Archive of Our Own

Present
“There’s all types of family, Brian... And that’s a choice you’re gonna have to make.” Tanner’s words echoed in Brian’s head as he watched Dom drive off in the Supra. Standing next to the smoking shell of the Charger, Brian knew he had made the right choice… now he would just have to live with it.

4 months earlier
“We’ve had another truck jacking and the FBI wants to set up a cross jurisdictional team to investigate.” Brian looked up from the coffee he was pouring as Sergeant Tanner walked into the station’s bullpen. “They want to send someone in undercover. See what this person can find out.” Tanner paused and looked around the bullpen at the eager faces watching him. “Brian. Step into my office. Let’s talk.”

Brian quickly took his coffee to his desk and following Tanner into his office. Tanner gestured to one of the chairs as he closed the door and moved behind his desk. Settling into his chair, Tanner leaned on his elbows and observed Brian over his clasped hands. “I put your name in as the UC.” Brian sat still and looked at Tanner across the desk, not letting his face betray any emotion. “I think you have what it takes to get in there. Get close to them. Get the evidence to send Toretto back to prison where he belongs.” Tanner settled back in his chair, silently watching Brian’s face. Looking for any hints of what he was thinking. After a few moments of silence, Tanner leaned forward again. “The question I have for you is, do you think you have what it takes?”

Brian blinked and slowly nodded. Finally letting a slow grin cross his features, Brian slouched a little further down in his chair. “Yeah. I’ve got it. I can do this.”

Tanner smiled at his answer and pushed a folder across his desk. “Good. Here’s the file. Take it home tonight and look it over. We’ll talk logistics and details later. Brian. This is your shot. Do good here and make detective.” Tanner stood up and extended his hand across his desk. Brian stood and grabbed the hand offered, shaking it before reaching down to pick up the case file. Moving toward the door, Tanner opened the door and stood by to let Brian pass. “Good job O’Conner. Keep up the good work.”

Brian sketched a small salute to Tanner before returning to his desk, fastidiously ignoring the looks he received from the other officers in the room. Grabbing his keys from his desk, Brian habitually checked for his shield, wallet and gun before heading out the door. It looked like he would have some reading to do tonight. As Tanner watched Brian head out the door he knew he was watching his shot at Lieutenant. He would help Brian close this case. A high profile case like this would be just what he needed to get that nod to Lieutenant. It was almost his. Finally.

Present
Brian pulled his shield from his wallet and held it high with his arms out from his side. Turning to face the police cars pulling to a stop with their lights flashing and siren’s blaring, Brian strained to hear any hint of the high performance engine as it drove away. Comforted by the fact that he couldn’t hear it, Brian let the mask of indifference settle on his face as the officers jumped from their vehicles, crouching behind opened car doors with their guns drawn, shouting at Brian to put his hands behind his head.

3 months earlier
“We’re gonna have you set up at The Racer’s Edge. You’re going to be working for Harry, selling parts and living in his back room. That’s your in.” Agent Bilkins offered a mirthless smile. “He has generously agreed to… help us… by assisting in your cover.” Brian nodded as he listened to Tanner and Agent Bilkins ran through the details one last time. He knew his cover. He knew he could do this. He wouldn’t disappoint Tanner in this. Now when he knew how much it meant to him.

Finally the briefing was finished. Agent Bilkins nodded to Tanner and Brian before leaving the office. Tanner sighed and turned to Brian. “Grab whatever you may need from your desk; you won’t be coming back in for a while. I’ll take you home so you can pack the rest of your stuff and then take you to the precinct garage to get your car.” Brian nodded wordlessly and stopped by his desk before meeting Tanner by the elevator to ride down to the garage.

The ride to his place was silent, each thinking about what would happen the next few months as Brian tried to build a case. Letting them into his apartment, Brian tossed his keys on the table by the door before heading back to his room. Grabbing a small duffle, Brian tossed in a few t-shirts and jeans, a handful of underwear and socks and a toiletry bag. Zipping up the duffle, Brian walked back into the living room and joined Tanner.

Tanner looked over as Brian entered. “It’s going to be fine Brian. You’re going to be just fine.” Brian nodded and blew out a breath, willing his shoulders to relax. “You can do this. You’re going to make me proud, Brian. I know you won’t let me down.” Brian closed his eyes as Tanner’s approval washed over him. He could do this. He would.

Tanner’s smile grew bigger as he thought about the promotion to Lieutenant. It was so close now. Within his grasp. He just needed Brian to get this done, and get it done right. Then he would have what he wanted.

Present
Brian was placed in the back of a patrol car and driven to the station for a debriefing with Bilkins and Tanner. Brian didn’t recognize the patrolman, must be fresh from graduation since Brian went undercover. He supposed he should be grateful he wasn’t in cuffs. When they arrived at the station, he was escorted through to the interrogation rooms. As the patrolman opened Interrogation Room 3 he asked Brian if he wanted anything. Brian wordlessly shook his head and settled into one of the three chairs in the room, glancing at the mirror as he wondered who was on the other side.

2 months earlier
Brian stormed out of the confiscated house the FBI and LAPD were using to run the operation. Tanner followed slowly behind, drinking his iced cappuccino. “Why can’t you see what’s in front of your face, Brian.” Sighing, Tanner tossed the rest of his coffee before turning away from Brian. “Take a ride with me Brian. Let’s talk about what you’ve got thus far.”

Brian scowled as he followed Tanner out to the Crown Vic and slid into the passenger seat. Backing quickly into the street, Tanner drove east until finally the sounds of LA faded and traffic thinned out. Brian sat quietly in the passenger seat, contemplating the case. Finally, Tanner pulled off the road and stepped out of the car. Brian stepped out as well and met Tanner behind the car.

“Look…” Before Brian could finish, Tanner grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him face down against the trunk of the car.

“You’re fucking this case up, Brian.” Tanner raised him slightly off the trunk before slamming him back down. “Why are you fucking this up? This should have been an easy case. Slip in, get the evidence, knock it out of the park and get me Lieutenant. Now I have Agent Bilkins just chomping at the bit to take this case from me and my ace in the hole coming up empty.” Tanner pulled Brian up and spun him around, grabbing a fist full of shirt and pulling his face in close. “DON’T… fuck this up anymore… Understand me?”

Brian nodded quickly. Tanner let his shirt go and moved around to the front of the car. Brian leaned against the car and brought his hand up to wipe the blood trickling from his cut lip. Flinching slightly from the pull on his ribs, Brian brought his hand back to see how much blood was on his hand. Finally standing, Brian walked around to the front of the car. “We’ll get the hijackers. Just give me a little more time. You know I can do this.”

Tanner nodded. “Get in the car Brian. Let’s go.” Brian turned and opened the passenger door, sliding into the seat gingerly. Neither man spoke as they drove back to LA. They pulled into the police garage and Brian reached open his door. Tanner grabbed his wrist gently. “Look. Sorry about that back there.” Brian just looked at Tanner with cool eyes, his face betraying nothing. “Just… let’s get this guy, alright?” Brian nodded before opening his door and getting out of the car.

“I better go call a cab. Have it take me back to Harry’s truck.”

“We towed the truck to the impound lot. We’ll release it to you so you can drive it back to Harry’s.” Tanner’s mouth tightened for a moment. “Brian. I… We… need to get this guy. Do what you gotta do, but let’s close this case.” Brian gave a short nod before turning and walking towards the impound lot. Tanner watched him walk away, hooded eyes stony in the dim light of the garage.

Present
Tanner observed Brian from the other side of the mirror. He couldn’t believe how completely this has fallen apart. He needed to figure out how to salvage Lieutenant from this fuck up. He’d counted on Brian to finish this job and Brian had fucked it up. A muscle in Tanner’s jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth and watched Brian settle into one of the three chairs. Tanner turned as the patrolman opened the door to the observation room and nodded his thanks, watching as the patrolman ducked back out and closed the door.

1 month earlier
“Brian. Stop.” Brian stopped by the pool of the confiscated house. Tanner stopped next to him, looking out over the water. “When did you start smoking again?” Brian shrugged. Tanner drew in a deep breath. “You didn’t answer my question in there. You going native on me Brian?”

Brian turned toward Tanner, his characteristically calm face clouded with fury. “No! Jesus. Why would you even ask that?”

Tanner looked over Brian’s face, anger clouding his own features. “Just wondering if they were right in there. Is the kid sister blurring your vision? Or maybe it’s Toretto himself that’s causing it.”

Brian clenched his fists at his side before turning back away from Tanner. “I’m just doing what you told me to do. ‘Do what you gotta do’. Remember telling me that? I’m getting it done.”

Tanner looked at Brian’s profile before turning back to watching the water. “Just don’t forget where your loyalties are Brian. Don’t forget who got you where you are today.” Tanner turned and walked back inside. Brian lifted his fingers and pressed against the bridge of his nose before huffing out a breath. Shaking his arms loose again, Brian turned and pulled out his cell to call a cab.

Present
Agent Bilkins walked into the observation room. “How do you want to play it?”

Tanner turned and looked at the other man. “Let me talk to him first. Why don’t you go take a walk. Come back in a few hours and we can see where we are then?”

Glancing through the glass to Brian sitting at the interrogation table, Agent Bilkins paused a moment before giving a slight nod and turning toward the door.

1 week prior
“You don’t want to see it Brian. You’re in too deep.” Tanner grabbed Brian’s arm and pulled him around the side of the house. The other officers and agents had all gone home. Tanner had stayed behind to further debrief Brian before dropping him back at Harry’s.

Brian pulled his arm out of Tanner’s grasp. “I’m not too deep. You just want it to be Toretto so bad you can’t see anything else.”

Tanner grabbed Brian’s arm again and pulled him into the house, slamming the door behind him. “You think I can’t see anything else? I can see plenty Brian. I can see that you’ve been pulled in. That you want so badly to belong to something that you’re willing to throw away your career to do it. Not gonna happen Brian. Not gonna happen.” Tanner wrenched Brian’s arm behind his back, shoving his face down onto the kitchen countertop. “You throw your career away, you throw mine away too. And I’m NOT going to let you do that to me. You belong to me O’Conner. I got you where you are today; I can drop you back to traffic in a heartbeat. How would you like to work traffic in Hector’s neighborhood. You think he’d like knowing you were a cop all that time Brian? Or how about Chinatown. What if Tran learned that you organized the raid on his house? Do you think you’d feel SAFE in that neighborhood Brian? Do you think Johnny and Lance would just let it go?” Brian grunted as Tanner shoved his arm higher between his shoulder blades. “Don’t forget whose side you’re on Brian.” With that Tanner shoved away from Brian and went to the door. “Don’t forget who’s family.”

Present
Brian sighed as he sat in Interrogation Room 3. Rubbing his face with his hands, Brian leaned against the table and looked at the mirror. He never thought he would be on this side of the partition. Waiting out the cops while they watched the suspect for any suspicious behavior. Finally, the door unlocked and Brian turned to see Tanner walk through the door.

Tanner stepped inside the room and stood by the door, watching Brian. Brian returned his gaze steadily, waiting to see how this would play.

“What happened today, Brian?” Tanner closed the door behind him and moved toward the table, grabbing a chair across from Brian.

“Johnny shot Jesse. I went in pursuit and shot him. Straightforward.” Brian watched as Tanner settled himself into his chair.

“Damnit Brian! That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it! Where’s Toretto, Brian. Where’s the case?” Tanner slapped his hand on the table, fury evident in his eyes.

Brian swallowed, then hoped that Tanner hadn’t seen him do so. “I couldn’t get a bead on Toretto. He’s gone.”

Tanner stood abruptly, chair tipping back with the force and crashing to the ground. “Someone’s gotta pay for this case, Brian. And it isn’t going to be me.” With that, Tanner strode to the door and wrenched it open, letting it slam shut behind him as he strode down the hall. Brian closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

A few minutes later Tanner walked back through the door. Grabbing Brian by his arm, Tanner pulled him up out of the chair. “Let’s go Brian. We’re going for a little ride.” Tanner led him out of the Interview Room and down to the garage. Tanner quickly shoved Brian into the back of the Crown Victoria and peeled out of the parking spot. Neither Brian nor Tanner spoke as they drove through downtown. Finally Tanner spoke. “Lance is in surgery. They don’t think he’s going to make it. Johnny Tran’s father has already lodged a complaint with the Commissioner in regards to his son’s death. Internal Audit’s going to get involved soon. And we need to close this case. So Brian. How can we wrap this up with a bow? How can you close this case?”

Tanner pulled over into a small dog park. Turning part way in his seat, Tanner looked back at Brian. “I know it was Toretto, Brian. But how were you going to prove to me it wasn’t? Tell me a story, Brian. And make it a good one.”

Brian swallowed. “It was Johnny.” Brian felt a flash of shame rush through him as he began to lie. He had sworn to uphold the law, not make a mockery of it. Dom. He had to remember Dom. Family. There’s all kinds of family. And Brian knew he would do whatever it took to protect his family. “Johnny was the ring leader.”

“Proof, Brian. How are you going to prove it?” Tanner asked Brian.

“The cars. I can take you to the cars. I saw them. I know where they are. But…” Brian swallowed, “they were burned. So there won’t be any usable prints.”

“Without prints we can’t tie them to the cars Brian. Think… Are you sure you didn’t lift prints when you saw them earlier? Maybe before they were torched… maybe you saw them the first time when you were checking out the different garages. Maybe you had a chance to lift some prints… Think, Brian.” Tanner watched as Brian struggled with what he was saying.

“Yeah. Yeah, I lifted them earlier. I can get you my print cards that I lifted earlier.” Brian’s voice cracked and he took a shuddering breath.

“That’s good Brian. That’s real good. Why don’t we go and get those print cards. I can show you the gun Johnny used. Maybe the prints from the cars will match his gun.” Tanner turned in his seat and restarted the car.

“Yeah,” Brian whispered. “Maybe they will…”

A few hours later found Brian back in Interrogation Room 3, but this time with both Tanner and Agent Bilkins.

Agent Bilkins raised his eyebrow at Brian. “So explain again then why Vince was out there if it was Johnny’s crew running the hijackings?”

Brian leaned forward. “See, it’s like this. Dom and Johnny got into it at Race Wars. So Johnny took Vince to teach Dom a lesson. Johnny thought that Dom narc’ed on him, and he knew that taking Vince would hurt Dom. He wanted to make him pay.”

Agent Bilkins turned to Tanner. “This is pretty thin. I don’t know that we have enough to get a bench warrant against Lance. And Johnny’s dead… kind of convenient there, don’t you think.”

Brian shifted his eyes between Tanner and Bilkins, waiting to see what would happen. Tanner spread his hands. “We’ve got the prints Brian says he took from the cars. We’ve got an eye witness account from an officer of law who saw Johnny force Vince to jump onto the truck at gunpoint.”

“Yeah,” Agent Bilkins interrupted. “About that. The trucker driving the rig doesn’t seem to remember the guy that jumped looking like he was under any sort of duress. So I’m supposed to believe that Vince was forced to do this?”

“Yeah, cause that’s how it happened.” Brian broke in. “The trucker was stressed. He was about to get hijacked. He’s not trained to observe the details. I am. I know what I saw.”

Agent Bilkins sighed. “Alright. Let’s write it up and take it to the judge. See if we can get a warrant for Lance before he gets out of surgery.” Agent Bilkins stood from the table and began to walk toward the door. Reaching the door, he paused and turned back to Brian. “One more thing. If everything happened the way you say it happened, why did Toretto run? If he truly is innocent in all of this, why did he skip town? May want to think about that Brian.”

Tanner stood and gestured for Brian to follow him. After finishing up paperwork and getting the information together for the judge to issue a bench warrant, Brian and Tanner left the station. The silence grew heavy as they drove back to Brian’s apartment. Brian cleared his throat. “I guess I’m not who you thought I was. I can clean out my desk in the morning.”

Tanner’s hands tightened on the wheel. “No. You’re not going anywhere. Let’s see how it plays out before you do anything stupid. Don’t forget O’Conner, I know you planted evidence. If you don’t walk the line for me, I’ll pin this on you, show you as a cop that turned and went native. They’d never believe you. You’re mine now Brian. Don’t ever forget it.” Tanner pulled into the apartment complex parking and quickly turned off the engine. Brian moved to get out when Tanner’s hand reached over and grabbed his wrist. “Take the rest of the week off. Stay off the radar. If anyone tries to talk to you, you send them to me. Use that time to… reflect… on what went wrong.”

Brian nodded and opened the door, stepping out of the vehicle and striding up to the apartment door. Brian knew he’d made the right decision, now he would just have to live with it.

----------
Two months later
“Dom! They put the whole thing on the Trans, dawg! You can come home!”

Dom struggled to make sense of what Vince was saying. He quickly rubbed a hand over his face while and switched the phone to his other hand. “What? Start at the beginning Vince. What’re you hearing?”

“The hijackings. The District Attorney announced that Johnny Tran was behind all of the truck hijackings. Lance is still in a coma, but if he ever comes out of it they’re gonna charge him with the hijackings and the death of Jesse, man. You’re free and clear. You can come home!” Dom could practically hear the smile in Vince’s voice.

“How do you know that this isn’t some sort of trap? Brian… Brian knows it was us.” Dom felt a surge of anger rise up every time he thought of Brian and what he did to his family. Lompoc or not, Brian better hope that Dom never finds him alone in a dark alley. Dom would teach Brian a much needed lesson about family and loyalty.

“Nah man. That pig is the one who fingered Johnny. Get this dawg. They gave him some sort of medal for rescuing me from being kidnapped! He had his picture in the paper and everything. Man, Hector came to see me at the hospital after that article and flipped his shit asking if I knew that he was a pig. I told him that the buster had us all fooled. Man, if the buster shows his face around any of the races anytime soon he’s gonna get a REAL nice welcome, you know what I mean?” Vince paused for a moment. “I told you he was a cop man. I TOLD you. I knew there wasn’t something right about him.”

Dom sighed. He stilled burned in anger whenever he thought about how Brian had him fooled. “Yeah. You were right. I should have listened.”

“Water under the bridge man, water under the bridge. Now we just gotta get the crew back together here. Get the garage back up and running. When can you pull stakes and get home? We’ve got some racing to do.”

Dom looked around the house that he, Leon and Letty had settled in. “Give us til the end of the week. Then we’ll head back north. Let me know if anything changes. You staying with Mia?” Vince grunted affirmative. “Good. Let her know our plans and I’ll see you in a week.”

“Alright dawg. Man it’ll be good to have the crew back together again.” Vince and Dom said goodbyes and hung up.

Dom stood from his chair and went outside to where Leon and Letty were sitting by the beach. Settling down in the sand next to them, Dom looked out over the ocean. “Vince called. We can head back.” Leon and Letty both turned to look at him. “They pinned the whole thing on the Trans. Never even looked our way.”

Leon whooped and leaned over and gave Dom a fist bump. “That’s awesome! When are we leaving?”

Dom gave a small smile. “Figured we would take the rest of the week to close things up out here then head back this weekend. Take us a few days to get back.”

Letty looked over at Dom and gave a small smile. “That’s good news Dom. I’m happy.”

Dom smiled back and leaned over and gave Letty a light hug and a kiss on her temple. “Me too, Letty. Me too.”

That night after a quiet dinner, Dom went up to his room. Lying down on his back, Dom looked over to the empty side of the bed. When they first arrived down in Mexico, Letty had claimed her own room. With her ribs broken she said she wanted to sleep alone so her ribs wouldn’t get jostled at night. Two months later Dom had to accept that she wouldn’t be rejoining him in his bed. Whatever they had in the past was gone. Just another casualty of the truck jackings. Dom sighed and rolled over, ready for the week to end so they could return home.

Pulling up to the house in Echo Park a week later, Dom climbed out of his car and cracked his neck. Walking up toward the front door, a smile broke across his face when Mia opened the door and came running down the stairs.

“Dom! You made it!” Mia called out happily.

“Mia-bella. I made it. It’s good to be home.” Dom wrapped his arms around his sister and lifted her up on her toes. Giving her a quick kiss on her temple, he lowered her back down and turned when he heard Vince come down the stairs. “Vince. Man. It’s good to see you.” Dom reached out and grabbed Vince and brought him in for a hug, placing a kiss on his head. “It’s good to be home.” Keeping an arm around Mia and the other around Vince, Dom steered them toward the house. “Letty and Leon stopped at Letty’s grandmother’s house on their way here. They said they will be a few days behind me.” The three walked inside and Dom spread out on the couch while Mia walked into the kitchen. “Man it feels good to be home.”

Mia returned with three Coronas and passed them out. Dom raised his beer. “Salut. To family back together again.” Mia and Vince raised their beers before taking deep drinks. Dom grinned and leaned back again. “Alright, where do we stand on the garage and store? Let’s get things back up and running.”

Eight months later
Brian sighed and rolled over, staring bleary eyed at his alarm clock. Time to get up. Brian groaned and pushed himself up and out of bed, stumbling into the bathroom to shower and wake up. He had stayed up too late the night before unpacking the rest of his boxes and hiding his duplicate case files in the back of his closet. Brian looked at himself in the mirror and no longer recognized himself. It was more than the 30 pounds of muscle he had lost and the hollow look in his eyes. He didn’t regret letting Dom go, but he knew the decision was slowly killing him. He didn’t know what he stood for anymore, but whatever… this… was, this wasn’t it. Being Tanner’s lap dog was making a mockery of why he had joined the police force. When he originally joined, he naively thought that he could make a difference. He thought that he could make things safer for the people of LA. Now, as Detective, he was making a difference all right, he was helping plant evidence to railroad people into prison. He had no doubt that many of these people were guilty of something at one point or another. But they were going to jail with Brian’s help simply because Tanner told him to. And it was killing him. Brian glanced at his watch. If he hurried he would have time to swing by Dom’s garage before he had to report in. He hadn’t been by in almost a month between finding the new apartment, packing and moving all his stuff by himself. Watching Dom smile with the crew helped him remember why he did it. Helped make the decision not taste quite as bitter in his mouth. Helped stave off the loneliness he felt when the other detectives looked at him with distrust in his eyes. Brian quickly showered and dressed, grabbing a poptart as he headed for the door. Grabbing his keys, Brian left his apartment and trotted over to his Civic, peeling out of the lot and heading for DT’s Garage.

Pulling over a block down the street, Brian watched the crew working. Business seemed to be doing well if the cars on the lot was any indication. Brian watched Leon and Vince shove each other, laughing while Dom looked on with an indulgent smile. Letty came out of the garage, her coveralls tied around her waist like normal, hair pulled back into a sloppy pony tail. She shouted something at the guys, the words unknown but the tone one of exasperation. Laughing again, Leon joined her as they leaned over the hood of a Trans Am, working on the engine side by side. Suddenly Dom turned, staring straight at Brian’s car. Brian quickly scrunched down in the seat, watching as the smile slid from Dom’s face to be replaced with a thoughtful look. Brian sighed, knowing he’d been made. Turning on the car, Brian hooked a u-turn and headed into the precinct.

Walking into the precinct later that morning, Brian flashed a smile at the new admin. What was her name? Mallory? Molly? Something with an M. Brian shook his head as he headed back to his desk. Shrugging off his jacket, Brian grabbed his detective badge and clipped it onto his belt before picking up the case file on his desk. Reading the post-it stuck to the cover, he crumpled the small paper and tossed it in his trash. Brian approached Tanner’s office and knocked on the doorway of the open door. “Lieutenant Tanner? You wanted to see me?”

Tanner looked up from his paperwork and smiled without any warmth. “Ah, yes Brian. Come on in and shut the door. I want to hear where you are on the Tayaba case.”

Brian entered and softly shut the door behind him, settling into one of the two chairs across the desk from Tanner. “I like Tyler Haddox for it. He definitely had motive. Witnesses saw them getting into a huge fight outside of the gym two days before Jamin was killed. He has a history of violence and was brought up on murder charges two years ago but was found innocent after the ADA screwed up the case. That was when ADA Casillas left right after I graduated from the academy.”

Tanner sat back and nodded slowly. “So what’s the problem then?”

Brian opened the file and scanned through his notes. “Tyler’s girlfriend says that he was with her all night. If he was then I’m back to square one with no leads.”

“The girlfriend with the heroin habit?” Tanner asked.

“Yeah. Says she just got back from rehab about 3 weeks ago. So she would have been around 2 weeks ago when this went down. From what I can tell, she kicked the heroin and is staying clean.” Brian looked up from his notes.

“Sometimes girlfriends are wrong… Especially if they are using again. Nobody’s gonna believe an addict who vouches for her boyfriend. I think she may be headed for a relapse Brian. Why don’t you stop by and see her. See that she has picked up… old habits... again.” Tanner leaned forward and shuffled through the paperwork on his desk. “Now. Once you get that case closed I have another one that needs your special attention, and quickly at that. This particular case we have some evidence that needs to disappear. Can’t have our mayors largest financial supporter be caught with his pants down, now can we?” Brian gave a slight nod and stood to leave. “Oh, and Brian? Make sure they Tayaba case is airtight? The DA doesn’t need any surprise witnesses coming out of the woodwork.”

Brian nodded once more and stepped out of Tanner’s office. Grabbing his jacket as he walked by his desk, Brian nodded to Madison? Or was it Miranda? as he went out to the door. Once he was seated in his car he opened up the file to see where he could locate Tyler’s girlfriend. Great. Tran’s old neighborhood. Sighing, Brian started the car and pulled out into traffic.

----------
“Dom! Dawg! You’ll never guess what Hector told me yesterday.” Dom shook his head and massaged his eyes as he turned from the Nissan he was working on.

“What is it Vince? This couldn’t wait for 3 hours? Mr. Ortega is coming this afternoon to pick up his car.”

“No man. Trust me; you’ll wanna know about this.” Dom could hear the excitement in Vince’s voice as he wiped his hands on the rag he kept in his back pocket.

“What is it then?” Dom settled on the edge of the hood, watching Vince impatiently as he waved a newspaper around.

“That cop. The buster. They found him beat to shit in Chinatown earlier this week. The papers say that he may not make it.”

Dom stood up and began pacing. “What? What the hell was Brian doing in Chinatown?”

“I don’t know man. It didn’t say. Why’s it matter?” Vince asked.

Dom could hear the incredulousness in Vince’s voice and sighed. “Just give me the paper Vince.” Dom looked down at the paper and grimaced. A picture of a younger Brian stared out at him next to the headline ‘Detective Beaten In Chinatown’. Dom quickly scanned the article.

Andrew Madell, LA Times – An anonymous caller led the Las Angeles police to one of their brethren, beaten and left for dead in the streets on Chinatown. “We received a call for a DB and were horrified when we found Detective O’Conner. You can imagine our relief when we saw he was still alive.” a source within the Department said. Police refuse to speculate what may have precipitated the event; however one can’t help but wonder if this is retaliation for Detective O’Conner’s actions that led to the death of Johnny Tran and the conviction of theft, public endangerment and racketeering of Lance Tran four months ago. If the Tran family enacted their own revenge on Detective O’Conner in the streets of Chinatown, one must ask, just who owns the streets. The police? Or the people.

Dom clenched his jaw and fisted the paper before storming out of the garage. Leon and Letty looked wide eyed at Vince as they heard the squeal of tires as Dom left the garage.

“Man, what’d ya say to him?” Leon asked.

Vince grimaced and sat down on the couch against the wall. “I just showed him an article about the buster. He got the shit beat out of him down in Chinatown. I don’t know why Dom’s acting the way he is. That shit went down almost a year ago. Who cares what happens to the buster now.”

“He comes around and watches us.” Leon said.

“What?” Vince shouted. “What, making his career once wasn’t enough? He looking for something to bring us down for? Have you told Dom this? He’d go beat that little shit himself if he knows.”

Leon shook his head. “Nah man. Dom knows. Told me not to do shit about it. He comes around a couple of times a month. Just sits over there in his Civic and watches.” Leon chuckled. “You haven’t ever noticed a white Civic hanging out at that corner?”

Vince shook his head, fury evident in his eyes. “What the hell’s Dom thinking, man. Letting him just sit there and watch us. We haven’t done shit since the trucks.”

Letty finally spoke up. “Shut up Vince. If Dom doesn’t care, why do you care?”

“Because he lied to us! He used Mia to get close to Dom and that whole time was watching us, ready to take us down!” Vince growled.

“And he saved your life and let Dom go.” Letty’s words hung in the air as Vince visibly deflated. “Let it go Vince.” Letty said softly. “Dom has. It’s time you do too. If Brian wants to watch? Who cares. Let him watch. But you gotta let this go.” Letty turned and went to the Nissan. “Leon, get over here and help me finish up Ortega’s car.” Leon gave one last look at Vince before turning and joining Letty.

That evening found a subdued group sitting around the remains of dinner. Dom sat quietly a minute before shaking his head and draining his beer. Placing the empty bottle on the table, Dom stood, turning toward the stairs. Stopping at the foot of the stairs, Dom placed his hand on the railing and turned to the group. “We gotta go see him. Tomorrow morning.” Letty and Mia nodded while Vince sat quietly and Leon blew out a breath. Nodding himself, Dom walked up the stairs.

The following morning Dom came downstairs to find Vince and Mia drinking coffee at the table. Grabbing a cup of coffee, Dom joined them before taking his first sip. “When are visiting hours?” Dom asked.

Mia looked up. “I called the hospital this morning, visiting hours are from 9 to 6. He’s in room 3206, the neurology floor.” Dom nodded, drinking more coffee. “Dom…” Mia began before clearing her throat.

Dom took another drink and looked pointedly around the table. “Where’s Leon and Letty?”

Mia watched Dom a minute before taking a breath. “Leon’s on his way. Letty’s going to open the garage.”

Vince looked up from the gouge on the table he had been picking at. “I’m going in to help her.” Vince glared a moment, almost challenging Dom to say something.

Dom raised an eyebrow and stared back at Vince a moment before turning to Mia. “Sounds good. As soon as Leon gets here let’s roll.” Vince and Mia nodded as Dom walked out of the kitchen.

Dom, Mia and Leon each pulled into the hospital parking lot at 8:55am. Entering the hospital, they quickly found the neurology floor and then room 3206. Knocking quietly, Mia stuck her head in and then opened the door, leading the other two inside. Dom paused in the doorway. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but this wasn’t it. Brian looked so unsubstantial lying on the white sheets, a cannula under his nose, propped slightly on his left side, facing the door. The constant hiss of the oxygen registered in the back of Dom’s mind. Dom shuddered before entering the rest of the room, looking at Mia and Leon and seeing the same look on their faces.

“Dom, this can’t be right. He doesn’t even look the same.” Mia whispered. It was true. Even beyond the heavy swelling and bruising, the stitches across the eyebrow and the cast on the left wrist, this was a shadow of the person that had gleefully declared that he almost had Dom after the first race. He looked like he had aged 5 years in the 10 months since Dom saw him last. And he looked almost emaciated; he clearly hadn’t been taking care of himself. Mia approached the bed and laid a tentative hand on Brian’s shoulder but there was no response. “What happened to him?”

Dom cleared his throat, but words wouldn’t come. He just shook his head silently. Dom looked at them both briefly. “What’s his Lieutenant’s name? We need to see what he knows. Does Brian have any family?”

Mia and Leon both shrugged. “He never talked about anyone to me” Mia said. “But who knows what Brian O’Conner has, I only knew Brian Spilner.” The last was said with a hint of bitterness. Dom knew that Mia was grateful Brian hadn’t turned him in but felt he used her to get in and that wasn’t something she could easily forgive.

Dom sighed and nodded. The door opened behind him and a nurse walked in, donning gloves. “Oh! I didn’t know that Brian had visitors today! Excuse me, I just need to check his IV and turn him and I will be out of your way. I’m Shena, his day nurse.” Shena approached Brian’s bed and quickly checked the IV bag and pressed a few buttons on the respirator. Then grabbing the sheet under Brian, she quickly and competently shifted him so that he was resting on his other hip, shoving pillows under his back to prop him in place. “There, that should help keep him comfortable. Is there anything I can get you guys?”

Mia shook her head and Dom cleared his throat again, easing words past his tight throat. “What’s wrong with him? Will he wake up?”

Shena tightened her lips slightly and sighed. “Are you guys… family? Friends? I’m afraid I can’t disclose that information to anyone but family. He doesn’t have any next of kin listed on his chart.”

Dom pointed at Mia. “She’s his sister.” At the nurse’s raised eyebrow he amended “Half-sister. Same mother.”

The nurse pursed her lips and sighed. “Half-sister, huh…” Finally seeming to reach a decision the nurse offered a brief smile. “Well, sister….?”

“Mia” Mia supplied.

“Right” the nurse said. “Sister named Mia. It would appear that you are the only family that this young man has. He didn’t have anyone listed as next of kin or an emergency contact in his phone and no one has come to visit him since he was brought in three days ago. I’ll tell the attending that you would like to speak with him. Will you be here for a while?” Mia nodded and smiled tentatively. “OK. Just sit tight and I’ll see if the doctor can come down to see you. Meanwhile, there are only two chairs in here, can I bring you another?”

Dom stood from where he had been leaning against the wall. “If you will show me where, I’ll grab it. Thank you Shena.” As Shena led him from the room to get another chair, Leon and Mia echoed his thanks before turning back to Brian. Dom returned a few minutes later with a third chair, placing it next to Brian’s bed where he could see Brian’s face. Leaning his elbows on his knees, Dom rubbed his hand across his head before shaking his head and looking at Leon and Mia.

Leon settled into a chair near the foot of the bed and Mia dragged the third chair near Dom and sat, watching Brian’s face. “Man, this is some fucked up shit, Dom.” Leon said. “What did the nurse mean no one has come to see him? What about the ‘Brotherhood of Blue’ or whatever that shit is.”

Dom shook his head. “I don’t know Leon. Something just doesn’t seem right. I would have thought that at least his Lieutenant would have made an appearance.” Settling back in his chair, Dom silently watched Brian’s face as the hiss continued like in the background.

A couple of hours later a young doctor knocked and stuck his head in before entering fully. Dom and Mia stood as he approached the bed. Sticking his hand out to Mia he smiled. “I’m Dr. Lowther. Nurse Jay said you are the patient’s sister?” At Mia’s nod he gave another smile and opened the file in his hand. “Well. I’m sure you want to know what is wrong with your brother. He was brought in marginally aware three nights ago with significant trauma. He has a broken wrist, three broken ribs, a fractured jaw, the deep laceration above his right eye, three teeth were knocked out and his nose was broken. What initially concerned us more, however was the threat of internal bleeding. There was massive bruising along his torso, around his temple and what appeared to be a boot print on his chest. That’s likely what caused the broken ribs. We admitted him for observation immediately, set the wrist and have temporarily provided him with dentures until we can get an oral surgeon to fit him for permanent ones. What has us worried now, however, is that he has not yet regained consciousness. We thought that he was starting to wake up briefly yesterday, but then he grew quiet again. It was clear that he received heavy blows to the head with his jaw and bruising, and at this point we just need to wait and see.” Dr. Lowther paused a moment, looking at Mia and glancing at the others. He provided a sympathetic smile and continued. “I know this is a lot to take in, so do you have any questions at this time?”

Mia shook her head.

“Yeah, I do” Dom replied. “Do they know who did this to him?”

Dr. Lowther gave a small shake of his head. “I’m sorry, but you will need to check with the police on that. I don’t know anything about the case for this.”

Dom nodded and turned back to Brian’s bed.

Dr. Lowther gave one last look to Mia before starting toward the door. “Don’t hesitate to let Nurse Jay know if you have any questions. I’ll stop back by during my evening rounds and we can discuss your options at that time Mia.” With a final small smile, Dr. Lowther slipped out the door.

As soon as the door closed behind Dr. Lowther, Mia sank back into her chair. “Dom, what’s going on? Who do you think did this?”

Dom grimaced as he sat down. “Tran. It has to be. Revenge for Johnny’s death.”

“What do you want to do Dom? We gotta keep the garage open, keep customers coming in. Mia has school. I don’t wanna sound cold, man, but we can’t just sit here watching him sleep.”

Dom glared over at Leon. “You heard them. He doesn’t have anyone else here. You don’t turn your back on family, even if you don’t agree with them.”

Leon sighed and tilted his head back briefly before looking at Dom again. “Family? Since when is he family?”

Dom gave a grin. “Didn’t you know? He’s Mia’s brother.” Leon snorted softly and rolled his eyes. Dom stared pensively at Leon briefly. “Go to the garage. Tell Vince and Letty what’s going on. I’m gonna to stay here with Mia until the doctor does his rounds tonight. Then we can figure out where things are after.” Leon nodded and stood. Casting one last glance at Brian’s bed, Leon left the room.

Mia sighed. “Oh Dom. What a mess.” Mia bit her lip as she looked over Brian’s still form. Dom grunted and leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he watched Brian’s chest rise and fall with each breath.

The two sat quietly, each lost in their thoughts. They watched silently as Shena came in and checked the monitors and IV before moving to roll him back to his left side. Dom rose and helped her adjust his position, watching as she gently propped his feet with a pillow. “We like to move our immobile patients every couple of hours. Helps keep them more comfortable and helps keep pressure sores from forming.” Dom nodded silently and sat back down as he watched Shena shed her gloves, mark something on Brian’s chart and quietly leave the room.

Finally Dom stirred, glancing at his watch. “Mia, see if you can find the cafeteria. It’s after one and we should eat something.” Mia nodded and left after squeezing Dom’s shoulder. Once the door closed softly behind Mia, Dom turned toward Brian. “Bri. What were you doing down there, man? Why didn’t you think?” Dom sighed and scrubbed his hands down his face before looking at Brian again. “I’ve seen you watching us. Sitting in your car down the street. I sometimes wondered what would happen if you ever came up to the garage.” Dom gave a dark chuckle. “Well, after we pulled Vince off of ya I guess.” Dom sat in silence for a while, hands clasped lightly together between his knees. “I never got to thank you.” Dom had to swallow hard to clear his throat. “I don’t know what all happened, what you had to do, but thank you for keeping my family together. For making it so I could come home to Mia.” Dom leaned back in his chair and watched the respirator hiss with the oxygen. Hearing a small noise behind him, Dom turned and saw Mia come in holding a couple of wrapped items and two sodas. Dom rose and grabbed one of the sodas and one of the wrapped items, the smell of hamburger drifting up to him.

Dom sat and unwrapped the burger, resting them on the edge of Brian’s bed as he squeezed mustard onto the patty. A small rustling noise registered in Dom’s ear and he froze, glancing up at Brian. Brian’s face was drawn up as though he was in pain and his head moved slightly on the pillow, causing the small noise again. Dom glanced over at Mia but she had already risen and was walking toward the door. He could hear her call for Nurse Jay as she went down the hall. Turning back to Brian, Dom reached a tentative hand out, trying to sooth the lines from Brian’s forehead. He heard Mia returning with someone as she excitedly told them that he had moved slightly and Dom pulled his hand back.

Mia and Shena entered the room and hurried over to the bed. Shena efficiently checked the machinery and his IV before turning to lean over Brian. Grabbing his right hand, Shena spoke loudly. “Brian. Brian. Are you with us, hun? Squeeze my hand Brian if you hear me Brian.” Dom and Mia watched anxiously as Shena looked at the heart rate monitor, looking for any changes. Shena leaned back over Brian, squeezing his hand in hers. “Brian. I know you’re in there, hun. Your sister is here to see you. Come on Brian, squeeze my hand for me.” A muscle by Brian’s left eye twitched slightly and he moved his head again. “That’s good Brian. You’re doing just fine, hun.” Holding his hand a few more minutes, Shena sighed when he displayed no additional movement. Shena gently placed his hand back down on the bed. Turning to Dom and Mia, Shena gave a smile. “Let’s keep an eye on him the next few hours. See if he comes around a little more. Keep talking to him. Familiar sounds and voices sometimes seem to help. I’ll be back to turn him in about 30 minutes. We may get a better response from him then.” Shena smiled again before leaving the room.

Mia looked at Dom and then picked up Brian’s hand. “Dom, I don’t know what to say to him.” She raised tearful eyes to him and Dom came and gently took Brian’s hand from her loose grip.

“Let me, Mia-bella. Why don’t you go. If you hurry you can make your last class. Then come back after you’ve had a break and we will see what the doctor says.” Dom gave her a gentle smile. “It’ll be okay Mia. I’ll stay here with him.” Mia gave Dom a quick hug, and with one last glance at Brian she slipped out the door. Dom turned back to Brian, picking up his limp hand. “Hey Brian. We gotta talk when you wake up man. I’ll thank you in person.” Dom gave a small grin. “I’ll even thank you in front of Vince. That’ll make him blow a gasket. But you gotta wake up first. Cause my apology don’t mean shit if I do it here with no witnesses.”

Dom looked over his shoulder as Shena entered the room. “Ready to help me turn him?” Dom nodded. Together they rolled Brian back to his other hip and propped him up. While Dom was adjusting Brian’s feet he heard a small sound. Dom looked at Shena and then glanced at Brian. Brian’s face once more had the frown and he moved his head slightly to the side. Shena smiled encouragingly at Dom. “Keep talking to him. I think he must like your voice better than mine. I’ll come back and check on you in a little while.”

Dom nodded and moved his chair to the other side of the bed so he could continue to see Brian’s face. Picking up Brian’s hand once more, Dom settled in his chair and looked over at Brian. “Man, I can’t tell you how happy I was when I got the call from Vince that we could come home. We had a house in Ensenada that was supposed to be our rendezvous, but without Mia, Vince or Jesse it was too big. So there Leon, Letty and I were, rattling around in this old house, fixing cars for the people in the town, wasting time until we knew what would happen next… and then Vince called. I gotta tell ya Bri, when he first called I thought it was a trap. That you guys were setting us up. You knew it was us, so I figured that the cops would be waiting at the border. And then Vince told me about how he had supposedly been kidnapped? That fucking cracked me up. You need to wake up and tell me the whole story behind that one. Man, I would have loved to see how you got them to believe that shit.” Dom paused, chuckling softly as he thought back to Vince telling him about the article.

“Once we reopened the garage and were settled, I finally had a chance to think, ya know? I started to think about how it could have gone down, and how even though you were there, you somehow fingered the Tran’s for this whole thing. You know, Leon’s who actually saw you the first time you came by. He doesn’t say much, but he sees things, ya know? I wanted to go over there. I don’t know what I was going to do. I was still mad, but had started to realize things. But Leon told me to wait. That if you wanted to watch us, to let ya. So I did. But after that I kept an eye out. Saw you come around and just watch us. I always wondered what you were thinking when you watched us. I wish you’d have come over. Once I got over being mad? Don’t tell anyone I said this… but I missed you hanging around. I thought about walking over to you but figured you woulda just driven away. I should have waved you over. Brought you back to your family. Cause that’s what you are. You managed to worm your way into my heart. Into my family.” Dom sighed and looked out the small window overlooking the parking lot. “Man, what’s been going on with you? Cause I gotta tell you Bri, you look like shit.” Brian made a small head movement on the pillow. Dom squeezed his hand and stood up. Feeling foolish, he glanced to the door before leaning over the bed. “Brian? You gonna wake up for me? Come on Bri. Wake up. Can you squeeze my hand? Let me know you’re in there somewhere?” Dom felt a small twitch in his hand and squeezed Brian’s hand again. “That’s it Bri, squeeze my hand again. Let me know you’re in there, bud.” Dom felt another small twitch in his hand and quickly dropped Brian’s hand and rushed to the door. Spotting Shena down at the nurses’ station, he hurried down to her. “Shena! I think he’s waking up. His hand moved.”

Shena smiled and followed Dom back to Brian’s room. “That’s great news! Let’s see how he’s doing.” Shena walked to the bed and picked up Brian’s hand. “Brian, honey. Wake up! Can you hear me Brian? If you can hear me squeeze my hand, hun.” Brian’s hand gave a small twitch in hers. “That’s great Brian. You’re doing great. We know you’re in there, just keep trying to wake up. We’ll be here.” Shena stood and turned toward Dom. “This is really good progress. What was your name again?”

“Dominic. Dom.”

“OK Dom. It may seem small, but this is actually really good progress. He’s obviously weak, but he can follow simple commands. I would expect him to continue to become more aware over the next few hours. Keep talking to him and periodically ask him for a response. Opening his eyes. Squeezing your hand. This isn’t like being asleep, he won’t just wake up and be fully aware. But this is really great progress. Hopefully he will continue to become more alert. If he stops responding, don’t worry. He’s likely to get tired easily. However, now that he has started responding this will be more like sleeping than slipping back into the coma.” Dom nodded. “OK, don’t hesitate to come get me if you need me for anything or have any questions. I’ll be back in an hour and we can turn him.” Dom nodded again and Shena offered one more smile before heading back to the nurses’ station.

Dom sat back down, watching Brian for a moment. “Hey Bri. Sounds like you’re gonna wake up soon. That’s good man. I can’t wait to talk to you. Although, I gotta admit. It’s easier talking about some things when you’re asleep like this. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to say it when you’re awake.” Dom sat by Brian’s bed for the next hour, talking about the mods the team has done to the cars, the racing scene down in Mexico and some of the more interesting cars they have worked on at the garage. Dom heard a noise at the door and glanced up to see Shena entering, donning her gloves.

“How’s he doing? Any additional response?” Shena asked as she approached the bed.

Dom shrugged. “I’ve just been talking to him. His hand sometimes twitches, and he gets a frown on his face, but I haven’t asked him to squeeze my hand or anything. I’ve just been talking to him.”

Shena smiled. “That’s great you still have some movement. Ready to help me turn him? Then after that we will see what he can do for us.”

Dom nodded and together they grasped the bottom sheet and prepared to turn him. As they were turning him Brian let out a small moan and mumbled Dom’s name. Dom looked up at Shena, eyes wide. “Does that mean he’s waking up?”

Shena smiled again. “That’s definitely a great sign. Let’s get him settled and see if he can open his eyes for us.” Once the pillows were arranged Shena leaned over Brian, picking up his uninjured hand. “Brian. Brian, I need you to open your eyes for me. Come on Brian.” Dom looked down at Brian’s face, scarcely breathing as he waited for a response. As he watched, Brian’s eyes slit open for a moment, casting around the room before settling on Dom and then drifting closed again.

Dom leaned over Brian and placed his hand gently on his chest. “Brian. Can you open your eyes again for me?”

Brian slowly opened his eyes and focused on Dom’s face hovering above his. A small smile flitted across his face and he whispered Dom’s name. Dom’s face split in a huge grin and he lightly pressed his hand to Brian’s chest. “I knew you could do it Bri.” Brian’s eyes drifted shut again and Dom gently squeezed Brian’s shoulder before stepping back. “That’s good Bri. You go ahead and rest now. We’ll talk when you’re back with us full time. I’m glad you’re back, Bri.”

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Brian slowly became aware of a faint murmuring. Suddenly the world began tilting on its axis and Brian tried to shout and grab hold of something. He couldn’t move. The world settled back down and he gratefully sank back into the darkness.

The next time Brian was aware he heard someone calling his name. They were telling him something. No. They were asking him to do something. To squeeze a hand? Why would they ask him to squeeze a hand? Brian tried to squeeze the hand holding his and felt warm pressure surround his hand. He tried to squeeze again. Suddenly his hand was cold. Where had the warmth gone? Wait, the warmth was back. But it was softer. Smoother. Not roughened by hours of working on an engine. This new voice also wanted him to squeeze his hand. Why did they keep telling him to squeeze a hand? He needed to rest. Brian slowly relaxed back into the darkness again.

Suddenly his world tilted on its axis again. Was he on a roller coaster? He didn’t think he liked this roller coaster. Dom. Dom could help him get off this. Brian moaned and tried to call out to Dom. Ahhhh, that worked. The ground stopped tilting. He was back on solid ground. The soft hand was back and the voice telling him to open his eyes. He could do that. Brian slowly opened his eyes. They felt so heavy. Why did they feel so heavy? Where was he? Looking around Brian saw Dom. Dom. Safe. He let his eyes close again. He felt a warm hand on his chest and Dom’s voice asking him to open his eyes again. He slowly opened them and saw Dom leaning over him. He smiled and whispered Dom’s name. Dom was with him. Everything would be OK. He drifted to sleep, listening to Dom’s voice rumble in the background as the darkness rushed up to meet him.

----------
Dom settled back in his chair, inexplicably overwhelmed with relief that Brian was waking up. He was glad Brian was okay, but he felt something more as well. When he walked in that morning and saw Brian laying there, looking so frail, it struck a nerve within Dom. He had felt a surge of protectiveness for Brian that he hadn’t expected. Then as he had spent the day talking to Brian, he remembered the fun that they’d had working on the cars and the blinding smile Brian would flash at Dom when the cars ran smoothly. Once he’d noticed Brian watching them at the garage, Dom had started to look forward to his visits, even the little contact that it provided. Somehow Brian’s presence brought a sense of peace to him that the others didn’t. Dom sighed and leaned forward again, picking up Brian’s hand and holding it lightly in his.

Twenty minutes later Dom again felt Brian’s hand stirring in his. Standing, Dom quickly leaned over Brian. “Brian. Open your eyes Brian. Come on Bri.”

Bri slowly opened his eyes, looking up at Dom. “Dom.” He whispered. Brian licked his lips and tried to clear his throat. “Water.”

“I’ll get you some water. Just hang on, okay? I need to call the nurse as well.” Dom hurried to the door and saw Shena entering the room two doors down. He flagged down another nurse and asked her to have Shena join them as soon as she could before he went and filled a cup with water and brought it to Brian. Dom carefully lifted Brian’s head and allowed him a small sip of water before laying Brian’s head back on the pillow. “Better?” Dom asked.

Brian looked slowly around the room. “Yeah. What happened? Where am I? Did I crash at Race Wars?”

Dom stood silently for a moment, unsure how to answer. “Uh, no, wasn’t Race Wars. You got beat up in Chinatown. Don’t you remember?” Brian shook his head. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Brian lay quietly as he thought back. “Getting the car ready for Race Wars. You and I going to Cha Cha Cha for dinner. Then we went back to my place and we spent the night together. After that it gets fuzzy. Did I get in a wreck before Race Wars?”

Dom scrubbed his face with his hands, looking a little desperately toward the door for the nurse. “Let me go find your nurse, okay Brian? I’ll be right back.” Turning, Dom hurried to the door, skidding to a stop when he turned the corner and almost knocked over Shena. Dom reached out and grabbed Shena’s arms, keeping her from falling.

“Dom! Melissa told me you were looking for me. Is Brian awake?” Shena asked.

Dom gently guided her further from the door to Brian’s room. “Yeah, he’s awake but he’s not remembering things right.”

Shena smiled. “It’s common for patients to forget things just prior to their accident, I wouldn’t worry about that. It should come back to him soon.”

Dom shook his head. “No. Like he thinks it’s over 10 months ago. And he’s saying stuff that didn’t happen. Or it did, but the people are all messed up.”

Shena pursed her lips. “Okay. Let’s go see him, let me get his chart. Is his sister coming back? With Brian awake he can authorize the doctor to speak to you, but I would imagine his sister would want to be here as well. The doctor has begun his rounds, so he will be coming by to review Brian’s prognosis with you.”

Dom nodded. “I’ll call her. She went to class, but it should be over now.” Dom watched as Shena went into Brian’s room before pulling out his cell and dialing Mia.

Forty minutes later Mia rushed off the elevator and headed toward Brian’s room. Looking in Brian’s room she saw Brian still in the same position from when she left for class and Dom leaning against the window sill, seemingly staring out at nothing. Approaching Dom, Mia whispered “Is he back in a coma?”

Dom glanced at Mia before looking at Brian. “No. He’s resting. He woke up briefly and spoke. The nurse said that he will probably sleep a lot the next few days as his body continues to heal. Let’s go see Shena, she wanted to talk to both of us when you got here.” Mia nodded and they headed toward the nurses’ station.

Shena looked up as they approached. “Oh good. Mia, you made it in. First and most importantly, I assume Dom told you that Brian woke up briefly?” Mia nodded. “Great. As I told Dom, expect him to sleep a lot these next few days. But the important thing is that he’s responsive when prompted. The doctor is doing his rounds right now but will be with you shortly. He can give you better information than I can, okay?” Dom and Mia nodded and returned to Brian’s room.

Mia approached Brian’s bed and lightly laid her hand on his shoulder. Brian slowly opened his eyes at her touch and whispered “Dom?”

Mia shook her head. “No Brian. It’s Mia.”

Brian’s eyes searched the room until they landed on Dom. “Dom.” One of Brian’s fingers lifted and Dom approached and took his hand again.

“Yeah, Bri. I’m here. You’re okay.” Dom pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down, still holding Brian’s hand in his. Brian smiled and closed his eyes, fingers briefly squeezing Dom’s hand. “It’s okay Bri. Just rest until the doctor gets here. You’ll be better in no time. Gotta get you back working on cars.” At Mia’s raised eyebrow Dom just gave a small headshake. Mia shrugged and sat down in another chair, placing her purse at the end of Brian’s bed.

A few minutes later the doctor walked in, holding Brian’s chart. “Ah, good. Mia, you are here. Well, I assume you’ve heard the good news that Brian has emerged from his coma?” Mia nodded and smiled. “Great. Now, Nurse Jay mentioned, Dom, that you told her that he seems confused at the moment?”

Dom nodded. “Yeah. He’s talking about getting ready for a race that was 10 months ago. And he is remembering stuff wrong. Like...” Dom paused and glanced at Mia. “He remembers going on a date to Cha Cha Cha but he thinks it was with me.” Mia gave a strangled laugh and Dom glanced at her again before turning back to the doctor.

Dr. Lowther nodded. “Okay. Let’s see what he can tell us then we can talk about what’s going on.” Dr. Lowther approached the bed and gently shook Brian’s shoulder. “Brian. Brian, can you wake up for me?” Brian gave a slight groan and slowly opened his eyes, hand still clasping Dom’s hand. Licking his lips slightly, Brian glanced at Dom before focusing on Dr. Lowther. “Well, Welcome back Brian. I’m your doctor, Dr. Lowther. You’ve given us quite a scare. How are you feeling?” Brian gave a small nod and continued to watch Dr. Lowther intently. “Good. I want to ask you some questions, see how you’re feeling, okay?” Brian nodded again. “Okay, great. First, do you know where you are?”

Brian cleared his throat slightly and licked his lips. “ ’ospital.”

“Yes, that’s right. You were brought in to the hospital three days ago. Do you remember what caused you to be here?” Dr. Lowther asked.

Brian shook his head. “Dom said I was beat up in Chinatown. Did Johnny do this?”

Dr. Lowther glanced at the chart in his hand. “Brian, do you know what month it is?”

Brian glanced around the room before looking back at Dr. Lowther. “March, right?”

Dr. Lowther jotted something on the chart. “Okay. And what year is it?”

Brian swallowed. “Um… It’s 2002.” Panic could be heard creeping into Brian’s voice with his response.

“That’s good Brian. You’re doing fine. What’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?”

Brian glanced at Dom. “Uh. I remember getting the cars ready for Race Wars. Dom and I going to Cha Cha Cha for dinner. Then we went back to my place and uh… we stayed at my place that night. After that, I don’t really remember much. I don’t remember waking up the next morning or anything. The next thing I can remember is waking up here.”

Dr. Lowther noted something else and closed the chart. “Okay. You did fine Brian. Now, before we go much further, let me go over your injuries. You were brought in three days ago marginally aware. You have a broken wrist, three broken ribs, a fractured jaw, the deep laceration above your right eye, three teeth were knocked out and your nose was broken. What initially concerned us more, however was the threat of internal bleeding. There was massive bruising along your torso, around your temple and what appeared to be a boot print on your chest. That’s likely what caused the broken ribs. We set the wrist and have temporarily provided you with dentures until we can get an oral surgeon to fit you for permanent ones. Your broken ribs will heal over the next four to six weeks. You should be able to eat solid foods in a few weeks or so once your jaw has mended and your gums have recovered. Until then we will keep you on a soft diet.” Dr. Lowther smiled. “Smoothies have come a long way. No liquid broccoli for you, don’t worry.” Brian gave a small smile.

Dr. Lowther grinned before continuing. “That’s where you are physically. Let’s talk about your brain a little. When you were assaulted, you received several blows to the head. Occasionally, when the brain receives traumatic injury, it gets a little confused. You said you thought it was March 2002, correct?” Brian nodded. “Today is January 18th, 2003.” Brian’s eyes widened and he looked frantically at Dom. Dom gave him a smile and squeezed his hand, murmuring assurances to him softly. “I know this is a lot. We will have a neurologist come in tomorrow to start working with you, see where you have gaps. For now, rest and let’s see where we stand in the morning.” Dr. Lowther turned to Mia. “It would be helpful if we had a family member here with us while we were testing him, will you be staying the night or be able to return in the morning?”

Mia glanced at Dom and Dom spoke up. “I’ll be coming back tonight and can stay tomorrow.”

Dr. Lowther nodded and headed toward the door. “Great. Brian, you just concentrate on getting better, everything else will get straightened out.”

That evening Mia and Dom explained the situation to the others. As expected, Vince objected. “I still don’t see why this is your problem Dom. He’s got his police buddies to help him out. You don’t need to be there. Shit Dom, how are you going to help know what the gaps in his memory are, you don’t fucking know him! Everything he told us was a lie!”

Dom slammed the flat of his hand on the table, making the dishes and everyone at the table jump before standing at the head of the table. “This is not open for discussion, Vince. I don’t need your permission and if you don’t agree then there’s the door.” Dom snarled.

Silence settled over the table as all eyes fell on Vince. Vince slowly stood from his chair, a look of disgust on his face. “I thought we were brothers. You’re gonna turn your back on family for some pig? Turn your back on me? I told you at the beginning what he was and you ignored me then. You choose him over me this time? I ain’t coming back. You’re not my brother Dom. I don’t even know you anymore.” With that Vince stormed from the room and out of the house, slamming the door on his way out.

Dom sighed, looking around the room. “You don’t have to understand. You don’t have to agree. But Brian let me go. He made it so we could sit at this table and break bread together. He needs our help and I’m going to help him. If you can’t respect that, you can follow Vince out the door. I’m going back to the hospital. Mia, I’ll call you tomorrow when I know more.” Mia nodded and stood to give Dom a hug. Placing a quick kiss on her temple Dom looked around the room one last time before heading back to the hospital.

Mia arrived at the hospital the following afternoon once her classes were done for the day. Dom and Brian looked up when she entered the room and she smiled as she approached the bed. “Hey guys. How did everything go today?”

Brian offered a wan smile as Dom pulled a chair over for Mia. Once Mia was sitting, Dom sat back down and sighed as he leaned on his elbows. “We finished up testing a few hours ago. The neurologist said that she would be by soon. That was over an hour ago. They haven’t told us anything yet. So we’ve just been hanging out.” Mia settled back and they sat in silence while they waited.

Eventually a petite woman knocked and entered the room. “Hey Brian. Dom. It’s good to see you again.” The woman turned to Mia and held out her hand. “I’m Dr. Reed. You must be Mia?” Mia smiled as they shook hands. “Great. Okay. Let’s go over what we’ve found, sound good?” Dom and Brian exchanged glances and nodded. “Great. First, it appears that Brian is suffering from some degree of retrograde amnesia. This is not uncommon for individuals that receive some sort of brain injury. Frequently patients have trouble remembering the period directly before their injury. Now, Brian, it appears that your amnesia dates back about 10 months. I would expect over time that you will regain most of your memories. You also appear to be suffering from confabulation. This is where your brain recognizes that it has gaps in your memory and is trying to fill in the blanks. For example, you believe that you were in a relationship with Dom. However, Dom tells us that you were in a relationship with Mia. Does that feel familiar to you at all?”

Brian shook his head. “No man. I can remember us going out. I remember… I remember us going back to my room at Harry’s. I remember that night. I remember details. Are you saying I made all that up? That I’m lying?”

Dr. Reed shook her head. “No. You didn’t consciously make it up. Your brain is trying to fill in the gaps. You don’t intend to lie, but right now your brain believes this to be the truth. As you recover your memory, this will clear itself. You’ll start to remember the events as they actually happened. Meanwhile, don’t try to force yourself to remember things. Concentrate on getting better. I’ll continue to check on you here, and we will do some follow-up after you are released. We can’t predict or control when your memories will return, but I will want to monitor you for a few months to be sure that you don’t have any residual effects from the trauma. If you develop headaches, or appear to be losing additional memories, then please let me know. Otherwise, I’ll be by to check on you at least once more before you leave and please make an appointment to come to my office end of next week, okay?” Brian nodded. “Great. Continue to get better and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call my office. I gave you my card earlier today, correct?” Dom nodded and with a final smile Dr. Reed left.

After Dr. Reed left the three sat quietly for a moment. Finally Brian cleared his throat. “So what were you leaving out earlier?” Mia looked up with a puzzled look while Dom sighed and rubbed his face.

“Nothing to worry about Brian. It’s like the doctor said. Right now you don’t need to try to force memories. Just concentrate on getting better.”

“Yeah, whatever man. Look, it’s been a real long day, I just want to get some rest.” Brian glanced briefly at Mia before looking back at Dom, a bleak look in his eye.

“I’ll stay with you. Let me walk Mia to her car and I’ll come back. Stay here for the night.”

“No, man. It’s cool. You don’t need to stay.” Brian turned to Mia. “Look, Mia. I’m sorry. I don’t know if I said it before, but I’m sorry if I hurt you. I don’t know what happened, but I guess the case wrapped up and you found out about me. I… I don’t know how it all went down… but I hope I didn’t hurt you. I may not remember us being together, but I do remember that you’re someone special. Someone I admire.” Brian sighed and seemed to sink back into his bed, eyes closed. Mia looked at Dom and they both stood.

Mia leaned over Brian’s bed and lightly kissed his forehead. “None of that matters now Brian. What’s important is you getting better. I’ll come see you tomorrow. You get some rest now.” Mia brushed Brian’s hair back and turned toward the door. “Dom, I’ll wait for you by the elevators.”

Dom nodded. “Let me walk Mia out. I’ll be right back.”

Brian squeezed his eyes shut briefly before reopening them. “No. Like I said. It’s been a long day. I’m gonna crash out soon. You should head home with Mia.”

“Bri. I’m not gonna leave you alone here.”

“Please Dom. I’m gonna crash as soon as Mia leaves. How about I call you tomorrow after the doctor does his morning rounds. I’ll see if he can tell me when I’ll get out of here.”

Dom stared at him a moment longer before seeming to come to a decision. “Fine. Here’s my number. You call me when you know something. Okay?” Dom wrote his number on the scratch pad Mia had left earlier that day.

Brian nodded and watched as Dom left and then rolled over to go to sleep.

----------
Three days later
“Are your friends going to come pick you up this morning, Brian? Did you want to call them and see when they were going to get here? You are welcome to stay in the waiting room until they get here if they will be a little while.” Shena asked when she handed him his prescriptions to be filled.

“Nah. I told them I would catch up with them later. I’m just going to take a cab home. Get settled first. Thanks though Shena. And hey, thanks for the scrub shirt. My t-shirt was pretty torn up I guess.”

“No problem Brian. I’m just glad you’re better.” Shena gave him one last smile before heading back to the nurses’ station.

Brian slipped his cell phone and wallet into his pocket. Taking the prescription for the antibiotics and pain relievers he had been prescribed, Brian looked around the room one last time before heading out of the hospital. Slipping into the cab, Brian gave the address and sat back and watched as the scenery passed by his window.

The cab pulled up to Brian’s apartment and waited as Brian pulled out his wallet and paid him. Brian watched as the cab pulled away before turning toward the building and walking to his door. Pulling out his keys, Brian fitted his key in the lock and twisted. The door didn’t open. Removing his key, Brian checked his ring before trying again. The door didn’t budge. Swearing softly under his breath, Brian went to the front office.

“Mr. O’Conner! I didn’t expect to see you again! Goodness, are you okay?” Brian nodded shortly. “What can I help you with?”

“Did you guys change the lock on my apartment? My key doesn’t work.”

The girl looked around helplessly a moment. “Let me get Cynthia.” The girl stood from her desk and rushed to a back hallway, returning shortly with an older woman holding a file folder.

“Good morning Mr. O’Conner. Rachel told me you were trying to get into your apartment? Did you forget something? The new tenants didn’t mention finding anything but we can check with maintenance if you would like.”

Brian stared at Cynthia. “New tenants? When did I move out?”

Cynthia glanced at Rachel before turning back to Brian. “You moved out last week.”

Brian closed his eyes and pinched his nose briefly before returning his gaze to Cynthia. “Did I leave a forwarding address?”

Cynthia checked the file. “It looks like you left the precinct as your forwarding address. Mr. O’Conner… is everything alright? Do you need us to call someone for you?”

Brian shook his head and pulled out his cellphone. The batter was dead. Of course. He needed to get his charger. Which was probably at his mystery apartment. Cursing again under his breath, Brian put it back in his pocket before looking at Cynthia. “Is there a phone I can use?”

Cynthia nodded. “Right this way. You can use the phone in my office.” Entering the office, Cynthia gestured to the phone. “I’ll be in the front if you need anything, okay?”

Brian nodded and picked up the phone, dialing the precinct.

“Los Angeles police department, this is Michelle. May I help you?”

“This is Officer Brian O’Conner, badge number 19604. I need to talk with Sergeant Tanner please.” Brian leaned back and carefully prodded his stitches above his right eye. He would get those out in two days. Hopefully the bruising under his eyes from his broken nose would fade over the next few days as well. His ribs protested if he moved too quickly or twisted wrong, but overall Brian could tell that his body was on the mend.

There was a pause before Michelle answered. “Um, Lieutenant Tanner is away from his desk right now, would you like his voicemail Detective O’Conner?”

Brian swore softly under his breath. “Can you transfer me to the personnel department please?”

“One moment” Michelle chirped before placing him on hold.

A moment later the phone clicked. “Personnel.”

“This is Off… Detective Brian O’Conner. Badge number 19604. I need you to check my file.” Brian sat on the edge of the desk, gingerly crossing his feet at the ankle.

“One moment while I pull it up. Okay, what can I help you with?” the bored voice asked.

Brian grabbed a pad of paper and pen from the desk and pulled it toward him. “What is my address of record?”

“1298 Mockingbird Lane. Apartment 286.” the voice replied.

Brian gripped the edge of the desk and bowed his head in frustration. “Okay. Thanks.” Brian hung up and sat still for a moment before picking up the phone again, redialing the precinct. “Michelle, This is Detective O’Conner again. Do you know where my car was taken after… after the incident?”

“It’s at the impound lot on Main street. I think Lieutenant Tanner had it towed there so it would remain safe until you were able to pick it up. You should just be able to show your ID. I don’t know where they put the keys though.” Michelle answered.

“That’s fine. I have the keys with me.” Brian replied shortly.

“Do you need the address?” Michelle asked tentatively.

“No. I got it. Thanks.” Brian hung up and looked around the room, spotting a phone book on top of a grey filing cabinet. Grabbing the book, Brian quickly called a cab and went to wait in the lobby, thanking Cynthia for the use of her phone.

An hour later Brian felt himself relaxing marginally as he pulled out into traffic. Tanner had left a message at the hospital that Brian was off for two weeks of medical leave before he was to return to work. Brian shook his head as he remembered his surprise when he received the message from Shena instead of Tanner stopping by himself. Stopping at the pharmacy he had previously used, Brian dropped off his prescriptions for antibiotics and Percocet. Flipping through magazines, Brian started when they called his name to pick up his order. Popping his first dosage of antibiotics, Brian pocketed the bottles and headed back to his car.

Brian drove around a few hours, hoping that something would spark a memory or look familiar. After the third pass through the neighborhoods nearest the precinct and not recognizing anything, Brian pulled over and grabbed a hamburger while he debated his options. He never had many friends in the precinct, and while he didn’t know what exactly had gone down with the bust, he couldn’t imagine that it had endeared him to anyone. Plus there was the whole matter of none of his coworkers coming to visit him while he was in the hospital. If Lieutenant Tanner knew to leave a message with Shena then his coworkers could have found him if they wanted it. That seemed to make a pretty clear statement in his book about who is friends were. Interesting that his mark that he lied to and betrayed was the only one to visit. He could probably stay in a hotel tonight, but that would get expensive fast. He didn’t know what he was making now that he was a detective, but he didn’t know how long it would be until he remembered where he lived and didn’t want to see how long his funds would last. That only left one place he could think of.

Accepting defeat, Brian wrapped up his trash and headed back to his car. Sliding into his car, Brian grimaced as he turned out of the lot and headed toward DT’s Garage. As he approached the garage, he saw all of the bay doors were closed and there were no cars in the parking lot. Brian drove past without stopping and headed for the house in Echo Park. As he pulled onto the street, he reviewed the cars parked in front. It looked like Mia, Letty and Leon were all parked. Brian just hoped that whatever Dom was driving these days was parked in the garage where the Charger had lived. He wasn’t looking forward to facing the group without Dom there as a buffer.

Brian pulled in behind Leon’s car and slowly got out, looking up and down the street. Steeling himself, Brian walked up to the house and rang the bell. After a moment the door opened to Letty standing in the threshold. Brian stood quietly, watching Letty, letting her set the tone for his arrival. Without a word she stepped back and jerked her head toward the kitchen, watching as Brian passed through the living room where Leon was sitting in front of a paused game, staring as Brian passed silently. Brian reflected that this was the quietest the house had ever been that he could remember. Brian entered the kitchen and Mia turned from whatever she was cooking on the stove and stopped talking mid sentence. Staring briefly at Brian with wide eyes, Mia glanced quickly to Dom seated at the small breakfast table before whispering “Dom.”

Dom glanced up at Mia. Seeing her shocked face he immediately tensed, ready to defend her against whatever had put that expression on her face, stopping short when he saw Brian standing there. “Bri… I went to the hospital at lunch. Shena said you took a cab when you were released this morning. I would have picked you up. What are you doing here?”

Brian swallowed and let the misery he had been holding back all day press his shoulders down. He may have fabricated his whole relationship with Dom, but he loved him. And even if Dom didn’t love him back, he knew Dom would help him. “I didn’t know where else to go. I don’t know where I live anymore.” Mia looked on with sadness in her eyes. Brian closed his eyes, unexpected shame flooding him and heating his cheeks. “I moved. I don’t know where, but I moved last week. I checked my account. I could stay in a hotel for a few days, but I can’t stay there for forever and who knows how long this will take. I don’t… I know we weren’t friends.” Brian huffed a short laugh. “Vince came to see me last night after you left.” Dom growled softly and Mia went and put a restraining hand on his bunched shoulders. “He was just telling me the truth. And he’s right. I lied to you. I used you, Mia.” Brian glanced at Mia with pain filled eyes. “I violated your trust in me. I couldn’t save Jesse.” Brian swallowed and looked away for a moment, visibly gathering his emotions back in check.

Dom spoke quickly, interrupting whatever Brian was going to say. “You’re staying here. With us. As long as you need. And yeah, you did some of what Vince said. But Jesse wasn’t your fault. That was Tran. You avenged Jesse’s death. You also saved Vince’s life. You made it so we could come home and be a family again here in the states. You… you let me run when you had me in your crosshairs. Vince may have forgotten those things, but I haven’t. I won’t. Come on, let’s get you upstairs. I’ll tell Leon to go get some of his clothes until we can get some for you.” Dom rose and walked to the stairs.

Mia went to Brian and pulled him into a gentle hug. Brian sank against her, hugging her back. “We’ll take care of things Brian. You stay with us as long as you need.” Brian nodded before turning to the stairs and following Dom to the second floor.

Dom stopped at a door and waited for Brian to finish slowly climbing the stairs and catch up before he let Brian walk in ahead of him. “You can stay here. The sheets are clean. Bathroom’s down the hall on the left. Towels are in the closet across from the bathroom.”

Brian nodded and slowly turned around the room, looking at the engine schematics taped to the wall and the posters of half naked women draped over cars. “This was Jesse’s room. I think I remember that, right?”

Dom nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, this was Jesse’s.”

“Thanks.” Brian went in and sat on the bed, looking around the room.

“Dinner will be ready in a few. Come down when you’re ready. I know you can’t eat, but you should have your shake with us. Get to know the team again.” Brian nodded and Dom headed downstairs.

When Brian came downstairs for dinner, Mia directed him to a chair next to hers where his shake sat waiting for him. Brian smiled softly at her in thanks before lowering himself into the chair. Brian pulled out his antibiotics and Percocet and swallowed them down with his shake. Brian gently cradled his ribs with his right arm while his left arm ached in its cast. His entire body ached after all of the driving he did today and he was ready to crash after dinner and sleep through until morning. As Brian finished his shake, he observed the team around him. Without Jesse’s constant movement and talking, the team seemed more subdued, a little less wild. Brian couldn’t muster the energy to feel bad about Vince’s absence. When Vince came to see him in the hospital last night, Brian had been shocked to hear how horribly everything had gone after race wars. Brian had been saddened to hear about Jesse’s death but glad to hear that he had facilitated Dom’s escape. While Vince hadn’t said so, Brian knew he would have given Dom the keys to the Supra and he was glad that Dom had made it to Mexico despite his injuries.

Brian focused back on the people at the table when Leon let loose a loud laugh and Mia’s laugh rang out like a bell. Smiling slightly, Brian tried to catch up in the conversation, grateful that Dom had taken him in today. Brian smiled at something that Letty said before glancing at Dom only to find him watching Brian. Dom offered a small smile when Brian met his eyes. Brian felt his cheeks heat again as a small flush of arousal coursed through him. Surely his overcompensating brain couldn’t fabricate the warmth that he felt when he watched Dom. Even if his memories were faulty, he knew what he was feeling right then. Brian offered a weak smile in return before turning back to the debate between Letty and Leon on the merits of the Nissan 350Z versus the Acura Integra platform.

After dinner Brian slowly helped Mia clean the table before heading for the stairs. The Percocet was definitely kicking in and Brian wanted nothing more than to fall into bed and sleep. Dom stopped him at the base of the stairs. “Hold on a sec. Let me get you something to sleep in other than jeans and your shirt.”

Brian glanced down at his clothes. His jeans were filthy and had dark brown spots that he assumed was blood drops splattered across the denim. He had a hole torn in the left knee, and his Vans had blood on them as well. Brian doubted his jeans were even salvageable and he couldn’t wait to get into clean clothes.

Dom reappeared holding out a t-shirt and some soft looking sleep pants. “Here, sleep in these. Give me your clothes once you change, we can see if they will clean up in the wash. Maybe get some of the blood out.”

Brian shook his head. “Nah man, I think these are destined for the trash. Tomorrow I’ll buy some stuff to use until I get things figured out.” Brian gave a sardonic smile. “At least it looks like I still wear the same things. Glad to know making Detective didn’t go to my head.”

Dom searched his face, seemingly looking for something. Finally Dom nodded and flashed a quick smile to Brian. “I’ll leave clothes for you outside your door for tomorrow morning. Leon is gonna run to his place and grab some stuff and I think Mia may have a spare toothbrush around for you. We’ll figure out the rest in the morning.” Brian nodded and felt himself leaning toward Dom, ready to give Dom a quick kiss before heading up the stairs. Realizing what he was about to do, Brian quickly stepped back and turned toward the stairs, missing the flash of disappointment that crossed Dom’s face. Dom grabbed Brian’s right arm gently, preventing Brian from going up the stairs. “Come here, Brian.” Brian turned back toward Dom, confusion evident on his face. Dom just wrapped his arms around Brian and hugged him close. Brian stiffened a moment before fully relaxing against Dom’s chest, burying his nose in Dom’s neck. He hadn’t realized how much he needed this physical support until now. Taking one last deep breath of Dom’s scent, Brian reluctantly pulled away and climbed the steps to his room.

Brian woke the following morning and stared at the blue curtains diffusing the morning light. He missed the easy intimacy he’d had with Dom. He didn’t know if it was real or a false memory as a result of the beating, he just knew that when he was with Dom he felt like he didn’t have to carry the burden alone. Brian rose from the bed and padded out to the hall in his bare feet. Picking up the small pile of clothes by his door, Brian turned, pausing outside the open door of Dom’s room. Dom lay sprawled across his bed on his stomach, arms stretched out as though he was embracing the world. Brian just watched Dom sleep, sadness settling across his shoulders. Closing his eyes as he turned away, Brian looked up and saw Mia watching him from her doorway, sympathy clouding her eyes. Offering a wan smile, Brian continued to the bathroom and slipped inside. Setting his borrowed clothing on the counter, Brian gave a small grin at the bread bag and tape next to the sink with a note in Mia’s neat handwriting directing him to use the soap and shampoo in the shower if he wanted. There was also a toothbrush still in its packaging, as well as a new stick of deodorant and tube of toothpaste. Brian quickly stripped off the clothes he had slept in and began to slip the bread bag on his left arm to protect his cast.

Brian headed downstairs after his shower and found Dom and Mia sitting at the table drinking coffee. Grabbing a cup for himself, Brian sat gingerly down as well. While the hot water had helped loosen his muscles, having to try to wash his hair with one arm while trying to keep his plastic wrapped arm out of the full spray had proven to be challenging.

Mia offered up a bright smile. “What’s on your agenda today Brian?”

Brian took a sip of coffee before answering. “I’m going to go by the station. Maybe I left something on my desk that can help tell me where I moved to. Since apparently I’m a detective now… I guess I’ll read through my cases, see if anything rings a bell.”

Dom nodded as he watched Brian drink his coffee. “You’re welcome to come by the garage later if you want. With Vince no longer working there I can always use another set of hands.” Dom smirked at Brian, laughter in his eyes. “We even have some stuff you can do with one arm and busted ribs. I’ve got a few pistons that need cleaning for a BMW I’ve got in the shop. I’m sure Leon would be happy to let you take over that job for him.”

Brian snorted into his coffee. “Yeah, I bet he would.” Brian offered up a grin to Dom before quickly finishing his coffee and rinsing his cup in the sink. “I’m going to head out. I’ll probably be done around lunch time. Dom, I’ll probably stop by the shop this afternoon. See you guys.” Dom and Mia both replied bye and watched as Brian walked to the front door.

Brian pulled into the station parking lot and walked into the station. Passing the receptionist’s desk, he offered a faint smile before heading to the detectives’ bullpen. Hopefully he would recognize something on his desk. Walking into the bullpen, Brian scanned the room and found his coffee cup on an empty desk. It was a graduation cup Rome’s mom had given him when he graduated high school. At least he recognized that. As Brian walked to his desk, several of the detectives in the room stopped him to let him know they were glad he was back. Brian barely suppressed rolling his eyes at some of their enthusiastic responses to his return. If they had missed him so much why hadn’t they come to the hospital? At least most of the detectives had been around a while so Brian was able to remember of their names with just a few exceptions.

Sitting down, Brian looked around the top of his desk, lifting files and shuffling papers. Not finding anything useful, Brian booted his computer and hoped that he hadn’t changed his password in the past year. Breathing a sigh of relief when he cleared the security, Brian opened word and reviewed the most recently opened documents, looking for anything that might give him a clue to what his life was like before the beating. Brian paused at the eighth file down. INS.DOC. Brian opened the document, curious why he would have a file about the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Brian drew in a quick breath as he began reading through the document. As he was scanning the document, Brian felt someone walk up behind him. Quickly closing the file, Brian turned in his chair to find Tanner standing above him. “Brian. Glad you are back. How’re you feeling?”

Brian smiled and stood, forcing Tanner back a step. “I’m good. Doctor said I should be able to return to light duty in 10 days and then the cast should come off about 4 weeks after that and I should be cleared for regular duty.”

“Great. Well it will be good to have you back. I have several cases backed up that could use your specific attention. We’ll have to figure out what light duty entails when you return. Did you fill out the necessary paperwork to receive Workers’ Comp?” Brian nodded. “Great. That’s just great. Stop by and see me when you come back and we will talk then. What are you doing here anyways?” Tanner peered around Brian and looked and the wallpaper screen on the computer and disheveled files on the desk.

“Oh. I was just here to grab a few things. You know, my coffee mug, stuff like that.” Tanner looked at Brian with one skeptical eyebrow raised. “And to fill out the paperwork. For the Workers’ Comp. Make sure everything is lined up.”

Tanner nodded and gave a brief smile. “Great. Well. Get better and hurry back. I’ve still got the Auman case for you.” At Brian’s blank look Tanner sighed. “The mayor’s financial supporter we discussed before you were injured. You need to help… dispose… of some evidence for me.” Brian quickly nodded, hoping that his eyes didn’t betray him. With that, Tanner clapped him briskly on the back and Brian tried not to flinch as Tanner walked away.

Brian sighed as he sunk into his chair. He suddenly knew what the INS stood for. He wasn’t working on an immigration case. It was insurance. Sometime in the last ten months he had become a dirty cop. Fuck. Well now what.

Brian felt a headache building and closed his eyes briefly, lightly touching his stitches. He was supposed to go to his personal doctor and have those removed tomorrow. Between them, his double black eyes from his broken nose and his broken wrist, he felt a little like Frankenstein walking around the streets. Maybe people wouldn’t stare quite as much when he was out once he got the stitches removed. Brian swiveled back to his desk and quickly rifled through his top drawer, looking for a data stick. Finding one, Brian transferred the INS file to the data stick. Brian quickly opened each of the other recently saved files, making sure none of them held anything else of interest. Not finding anything, Brian shut down his computer and shoved the data stick in his pocket. Brian was halfway out the door when he remembered his coffee mug. Hurrying back as quickly as his aching body would allow, Brian grabbed the mug and then went to fill out paperwork.

Brian pulled into the first shopping mall he found and sat in his car to think. He needed to go through his INS file slowly. See who else was in on it. Based on Tanner’s remark earlier, Brian was pretty sure this was coming from the Lieutenant. Brian wondered what made him to agree to doing it. He couldn’t believe that he would have done this willingly. Now, more than ever, Brian needed to find where he was living to see if there were any additional clues to what had caused him to turn. Brian restarted the car and headed toward the grocery, hoping to catch Mia to see if they had a computer he could use.

Mia was ringing up a customer when Brian arrived. Once they left she came over to where Brian sat at the deli counter. “Hey Brian. Find anything useful at the station?”

Brian shook his head. “No. Not really. Said hey to some of the other detectives, Lieutenant Tanner stopped by to say hi. I looked through my stuff but didn’t see anything about where I moved to.” Brian glanced around the grocery before looking back at Mia. “Do you guys have a computer I can use? I brought home some files that I thought might help jog my memory. I don’t want Tanner and the guys at the station to know about my memory loss, so I brought some stuff with me so that I could look through it on my own.”

Mia smiled. “Of course. Let’s go to the back. We have one for our books and ordering inventory. Should it work?”

Brian nodded. “Yeah. That would be great. Thanks.” Mia let Brian into the back office, directing him to sit at the desk and turning on the computer. Brian looked up at Mia as he placed the data stick on the desk. “Thanks Mia. Let me know if you need the desk, I don’t want to get in your way.”

Mia stood in the doorway, watching as Brian pulled the keyboard and mouse closer so that he could reach without pulling his ribs. “You’re fine Brian. Just let me know if you need anything. Do you think you could eat a tuna sandwich for lunch or do you need to stick with your shakes for a while longer?”

Brian gave Mia a soft smile. “Thanks Mia. I’ll stick with a shake today. You don’t need to worry about it though. I’ll come out in a while and make one. I have the mix in my car.” Mia smiled back before returning to the front of the grocery.

Brain watched as the computer finished booting up before slipping the data stick into the port. Reflexively glancing around the office, Brian shrugged the tension from his shoulders and opened the file. Closing his eyes briefly, he took a deep breath before letting it out. Brian read the entire document through quickly before going back and reading more slowly. From what he could gather, this had started with the hijacking case where he planted evidence on Johnny. He made Detective off that case and Tanner was promoted to Lieutenant. From there, Tanner had subsequently given him eight cases that he had either falsified evidence or made specific evidence disappear. It looked like he had made copies of the original files prior to altering them. He needed to get his hands on those files. Brian thought for a moment. If he was keeping copies of the files to protect himself he wouldn’t keep them at the station. So he must have them wherever he was currently living. Once he got his hands on those files maybe he could find a way out of this.

Brian began to doodle in the corner of the notepad, trying to figure out how he could find where he lived. Brian pulled out his wallet and stared at his driver’s license with his out of date address. Tapping his license on the desk, Brian idly looked around the office. In the corner of the desk were the purchase orders from Mia and Dom’s suppliers, as well as a stack of mail still to be opened. Up against the wall was a grey filing cabinet with a stack of additional papers on top, ready to be filed. Brian smiled as his eyes drifted over the 2002 calendar on the wall. Brian saw a 2003 muscle car calendar on the side table near the door and went to replace the out of date one. As he stepped around the desk, Brian brushed against the mail perched on the corner of the desk, knocking it to the ground. Brian bent to pick up the mail and paused. Mail. Even if he hadn’t updated his license yet, he would have forwarded his mail. The post office would have his new address on file. Brian grinned as he placed the mail back on the desk and quickly hung the 2003 calendar. Returning to the computer, Brian quickly closed the document and shut down the computer. Grabbing his wallet and license, Brian headed out to the main grocery area.

Mia looked up from where she was preparing sandwiches at the lunch counter. “Hey Brian. You get what you needed from the computer?”

Brian sat at the counter. “Yeah. Thanks. Hey, do you have a phone book I could use?” Mia nodded and wiped her hands on a towel before briefly disappearing back into the office and returning with the phone book. Brian offered her a smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Do you want me to make your shake for you?”

Brian looked up from the phonebook. “Huh? Oh. No. It’s okay, I’ll make it when I’m finished with this.”

Mia smiled. “Brian. It’s no trouble. Go get your mix and I’ll blend it for you.” Brian nodded and went to his car. Handing the mix to Mia, Brian jotted down an address before closing the book and watching as Mia blended a shake for him.

“Thanks Mia.” Brian took a drink of his shake. “Once I can eat again I may never drink a chocolate shake again.”

Mia laughed. “Yeah, I would think they would get old after a while. How much longer do you think until you can eat soft foods?”

Brian shrugged. “Before I checked out of the hospital the doc said just whenever I could chew without any pain. I won’t get my permanent bridge in for another month. It doesn’t hurt to talk but my jaw gets tired by the end of the day and aches. So maybe in a few days?” Mia nodded and washed her hands before returning to making sandwiches as Brian finished his shake. “Thanks Mia. I need to go run some errands.” Brian waved and then walked slowly out to his car, settling into the seat. Pulling the paper out, Brian looked at the address for the main post office in the area. Mapping it in his head, Brian pulled out onto the street and headed out.

Brian walked into the post office and stood in line. Finally approaching the counter, Brian pulled out his detective badge and glanced at the woman’s name tag. “Hi Sarah. I’m Detective Brian O’Conner. Is your manager available for me to talk with?”

Sarah glanced at Brian’s badge before nodding at Brian, eyes wide with excitement. “Are you here to take someone in? I bet it’s just like that Law and Order I saw last night. This guy was…”

Brian quickly cut Sarah off. “No. I’m not here to take anyone in. But I do need to speak with your manager please. If you could get him or her?”

Sarah nodded before turning and walking briskly to an office door at the end of the counter. Sticking her head in the doorway, Brian could see her talking with someone and glancing back over her shoulder at him. Finally a heavy set man walked out of the office and approached Brian with his hand out. “Detective O’Conner. I’m Mike Brooks, the manager here. What can I help you with? Sarah said you needed to interview someone?”

Brian stifled a small smile and shook his head. “No. Do you have somewhere a little more private we can talk?” Brian asked while glancing pointedly at Sarah who was avidly listening to every word.

Mike looked at Sarah and shook his head. “Of course, Let’s go back to my office. Sarah. Please return to work and next time, just say someone is here to see me.” Mike looked at Brian with a wry look. “Brian, meet me by the side door and we can talk in my office.”

Brian grinned and waited for Mike to let him through the security door and following him to the office. Settling into the chair across the desk, Brian smiled at Mike. “I imagine this is an unusual request, but I need to find out where my mail was forwarded to.”

Mike shook his head and gave a small chuckle. “That’s not even the weirdest request I’ve had today. Let me pull that up for you.” Mike turned to his computer and began tapping the keys. “Here we go. It looks like you forwarded your mail January 7th to 828 Park Place Avenue, Apartment 1807. Do you want me to stop the forwarding?”

Brian shook his head. “No. I want to keep forwarding it. But could you write that address down for me?”

Mike nodded, grabbing a piece of paper and jotting something down. Handing the paper to Brian, he asked “Is there anything else I can help you with today?”

“No. Thanks Mike.” Brian took the paper and headed out the door, a smile across his face. Finally, he felt like he was getting control back over his life.

Brian pulled into the lot of his new apartment complex, looking at the number on the sides of the building until he found building 18. He had to admit that this complex was a lot nicer than his last one. Making detective must have increased his standard of living. Parking his car, Brian wandered around the complex until he found the mailboxes. Selecting the smallest key, Brian opened his mailbox and collected his mail before heading to his apartment. Letting himself in, Brian immediately opened a window to help dissipate the musty smell. Placing his mail on the kitchen counter, Brian walked through his apartment slowly to see where he had placed things. After his initial walkthrough he began a more thorough search for the duplicate files. Forty minutes later Brian pulled the files from the closet and carried them into the living room, settling on the couch and beginning a detailed review.

Several hours later Brian looked up and stretched his neck. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was after five. Brian quickly gathered up the files and neatly placed them back in the closet where they were previously hidden. Brian grabbed his phone charger from the kitchen counter and quickly packed a small duffle for the night. Tomorrow he would tackle grocery shopping and could stay at his place, but tonight he wanted one more night with Dom. Casting one last glance around the apartment, Brian let himself out and hurried to his car.

Pulling up to the house in Echo Park, Brian sat for a moment watched the lights blazing in the living room. He imagined he could hear the laughter of the old team, Jesse’s ramblings about engines and Vince’s gruff voice discussing mods with Leon. Climbing out of his car, Brian snagged his duffle and entered the house. Tossing a nod at Leon and Letty playing GTA, Brian poked his head in the kitchen to a scene very similar to the previous evening. Mia turned from the stove, only this time smiled as she said hello. Dom turned again to see who Mia saw only this time his shoulders relaxed instead of bunching up. Dom gave Brian a quick once over, settling briefly on the duffle before looking back in Brian’s eyes.

“We were debating sending out the cavalry to look for you. Everything okay?” Dom asked.

“Yeah. Sorry. Phone is still dead. But I found out where I live. I was hoping I could crash here one more night? I don’t have any food or anything at my place.” Brian glanced at Mia and returned to watching Dom.

Dom nodded. “Of course you can. Stay as long as you need. Go take your stuff up, dinner’s almost ready.” Brian gave a quick nod before climbing the stairs and dropping his duffle on the bed. Pulling his charger from the bag, Brian plugged in his phone before returning downstairs.

----------
Dom watched Brian throughout dinner and was concerned by his change in demeanor from yesterday. Whereas yesterday he was quiet but engaged in the conversation, today he was pensive and withdrawn. After they finished eating, Dom stood. “Brian. Let’s go for a drive.” Brian nodded and followed Dom to the Supra, climbing in. They drove in silence, finally pulling over once they had escaped the city. Climbing out, Dom sat on the hood of the Supra, waiting for Brian to join him.

Brian finally came around and perched on the edge of the hood, looking out at the desert before them. Brian shifted his weight from foot to foot before finally asking “View’s nice. So why’d you bring me out here?”

Dom suppressed a smile. He knew that Brian wouldn’t be able to take the silence. Turning his head, Dom looked at Brian from behind his sunglasses. “Talk to me.”

Brian’s forehead scrunched up in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Dom slowly turned to look back out over the desert. “Talk to me. What’d you find today. Because the Brian at the table tonight wasn’t the same Brian that left the house this morning. So. Talk to me.”

Brian shrugged before staring impassively back out across the desert. “Nothin happened, man. Found out where I lived. I’ll get out of your way tomorrow.”

Dom stayed silent for a moment. “If you found where you lived, why do you look like someone kicked your puppy?”

Brian gave a snort of laughter before staring pensively out into the desert. “Do you ever wish you could have a do over?”

“Every day Bri. Every day.”

Bri turned and looked at Dom. “Yeah. I guess you do.” Turning back to look out into the desert, Brian chewed on his lip for a moment.

“You can’t have a do over, Bri, but you can change what you do moving forward. So. Once again. Talk to me.” Dom shifted his weight on the hood of the car so that he was partially facing Brian. “What would you do over?”

Brian closed his eyes, seeming to debate within himself what to do. Finally, he turned and looked at Dom with anguish in his eyes. “That’s just it. I wouldn’t change what I did. But I know I can’t continue with the result of that decision.”

Dom nodded slowly. “Why don’t you tell me the choice that you made. Let’s start from there.”

Brian clenched his jaw and looked out into the desert again. Several minutes passed and Dom began to wonder if Brian was going to answer. Finally Brian turned and looked at Dom and whispered “I let you go.” Brian looked forward again and rubbed his eyes, muttering fuck underneath his breath.

Silence settled between the two of them. Dom felt frozen in place, wondering what the repercussions were from that decision. Dom had never wondered what it had cost Brian when he pinned it on Tran. He knew that Brian had made Detective off the case and hadn’t ever given it another thought. Now he looked Brian over with a critical eye. Looking past the wounds from his beating in Chinatown, Dom took note of Brian’s gaunt features. When he first saw Brian in the hospital he had looked emaciated, but Dom had gotten used to how he looked and had stopped noticing. Now he saw how Brian now stood hunched over, as though the world was pressing on his shoulders and he couldn’t bear the weight any longer. Dom hesitantly reached out and brushed Brian’s curls off his forehead. Brian closed his eyes and leaned into the brief touch.

Finally Dom cleared his throat. “And what’s the result of that decision, Bri. What are you having to do?” Brian shook his head silently, staring at the dirt in front of him. “Come on Bri. Maybe this is your chance for your do over. Tell me what you found today.”

Brian turned his head and looked at Dom from under his eyelashes. Looking back down at the dirt, Brian softly whispered “I’m dirty. I found out I’m a dirty cop.” Brian stood from where he was leaning and walked out into the desert a few feet before turning back towards Dom. Suddenly Brian spun back around and screamed fuck out into the desert before collapsing to his knees.

Dom sat quietly for a moment, mind reeling with this information. Sliding off the car, Dom went to Brian and squatted next to him. “Come on Bri. The sun’s going down. Let’s head back to the house. We’ll figure this out. We’ll get you out of this.” Grasping Brian by his good arm, Dom helped Brian to his feet and led him back to the car. Once Brian was sitting, Dom closed the door and trotted around to the other side. Sliding in, Dom looked over at Brian, who had his eyes closed as he leaned against the window. Starting the car, Dom pulled back out onto the road and headed back to LA.

When they arrived back at the house, Dom had to gently shake Brian awake. “Come on Bri. Let’s get you upstairs. You’ve only been out of the hospital for one day. This can wait until tomorrow.” Brian nodded and docilely followed Dom inside the house and up the stairs. Dom gently pushed Brian down onto the bed before kneeling and taking off Brian’s shoes. Helping Brian swing his legs around, Dom pulled the blanket at the foot of the bed up over Brian, smoothing it over his shoulders. Dom rested his hand on Brian’s shoulder for a moment before squeezing gently and turning to leave the room.

The following morning Brian stumbled downstairs to find Dom sitting at the table drinking coffee. Grabbing a cup for himself, Brian slid into a chair opposite him. Brian hid a small smile behind his cup when Dom looked up and grunted a hello. After a few minutes of silence, Brian put down his coffee cup and looked at Dom. “You going into the garage today?”

Dom shook his head. “No. You and I are going to figure out what we need to do to get you out of this.”

“Dom. This isn’t your problem. Don’t worry about it. Yesterday was just crazy since it was my first day out of the hospital and finding where I live. There’s nothing for you to figure out.”

Dom carefully placed his coffee cup down on the table and clasped his hands in front of it. Taking a few deep breaths, it was clear to Brian that Dom was gathering his patience before responding. “Brian. You’re my business. Yeah, yesterday was crazy, but you look like shit and I’m not going to let you go off to deal with this alone. I’m the reason you’re in this situation, I’m going to help you get out.”

Brian instantly tensed up. “No. You don’t get to blame yourself for my choices. It was MY choice to give you those car keys. It was MY choice to pin this on Tran. You’re not the reason I’m in this situation, these were all my decisions that I made. I may not know exactly how it all went down, but I do know that nobody else was making those decisions for me. You don’t get to shoulder this one Dom.”

Dom sighed and shook his head. “No, Bri. You don’t get it. When you made your choice, you chose family. It took me a while to see it, but I do now. And family helps each other out. So we’re going to figure out where we go from here. You don’t get to play the martyr. There aren’t any martyrs in my family, just people helping each other out. Got it?”

Brian and Dom stared at each other for a moment until Brian broke away. Shrugging, Brian muttered “Whatever, man. Fine.”

Dom picked up his coffee cup and finished his coffee before rising out of the seat and going to the coffee pot. Pouring himself another cup, Dom turned and leaned back against the counter. “You hungry?” Brian nodded and began to stand from the table. “Sit Brian. I’ll whip together some eggs and toast. Then let’s see where we go from here.” Brian sank back down into his chair and picked his coffee back up, drinking the now tepid coffee. Dom grinned at Brian’s face when he drank the coffee and brought the pot over to top off Brian’s cup. Returning the pot, Dom grabbed the eggs and milk from the refrigerator and began to mix scrambled eggs. Quickly popping toast into the toaster, Dom grabbed the butter and preserves from the refrigerator, placing them on the table with utensils. Once the eggs finished cooking Dom plated the food and brought both plates to the table. Brian nodded his thanks and they began to eat in silence.

While they were eating, Brian flashed to another memory of him and Don eating breakfast together. Only in that memory Dom dropped a kiss on Brian’s head when placing the plate in front of him and then trapping Brian’s ankle between his calves under the table. Brian closed his eyes and fought the memory. Based on what he had been told, this was probably another false memory. So why did it leave him feeling so sad and lonely? Brian opened his eyes and concentrated on chewing each bite before swallowing. Maybe if he distracted himself enough he wouldn’t notice the heartbreak.

Once Dom was done, he pushed his plate back. “So where should we start today?” he asked.

Brian finished his last bite of toast and washed it down with coffee before answering. “First I gotta go get my stitches out today. I can stop by anytime between nine and noon. I want to do that first so I won’t feel quite so much like Frankenstein wandering around town.” Dom nodded. “Then, I guess let’s go back to my place. I can show you the files I kept on each of the eight cases Tanner had me falsify. I don’t know how I’m going to fix this though. I mean, I have notes on Tanner, but each of those cases clearly implicate me as well. So I can’t take Tanner down without going down myself.”

Dom looked thoughtful for a few minutes before rising and taking the dishes to the sink. Quickly washing them and placing them in the rack to dry, Dom turned toward Brian. “Let’s take it one step at a time. Come on. You can even drive today.” Brian grinned and the two men walked out into the morning air.

Emerging from the doctor’s office an hour later, Brian flashed a bright smile to Dom. “I can’t believe how much better I feel getting those stitches out. I think I’m starting to look human again. The swelling is down, the bruising is fading. Moms are no longer shielding their small children when I walk down the street. Hell, even my ribs are starting to feel a little better.”

Dom barked out a laugh. “You’re looking great Fabio. Where to now?”

Brian grinned before unlocking his car and sliding in. “Let me show you my new digs. I’ve got the case files there.”

Dom slid his sunglasses into place and nodded at Brian. “Lead on Jeeves.”

They soon arrived at Brian’s new apartment complex, and pulled into a visitor spot. Brian flashed a grin at Dom. “I have no clue which assigned spot is mine. Guess I’ll have to figure out that at some point too.” Exiting the car, the two men went to Brian’s door and Dom followed Brian into the apartment.

As Dom looked around the apartment he couldn’t help but chuckle. “How long did you say you lived here?”

Brian shrugged. “I guess about a week before Tran got me. Why?”

Dom raised an eyebrow and gestured around the apartment. “You expecting a hot date when you left for work that day or do you always keep your place like a showroom floor?”

Brian looked around before turning to Dom and lifting one shoulder. “I dunno. I guess I’ve always kept things neat. My room was pretty small growing up and I had to keep everything in it’s place if I wanted a place to sleep at night. I guess it stuck with me.” Brian rolled his eyes and turned toward the bedroom. “Come on. The case files are in my closet.” Dom helped Brian pull down the case files and carry them out to the living room. One by one Brian went through them with Dom and explained what the notes indicated Tanner had him do on each case.

After they had reviewed all of the cases, Dom leaned back on the couch. “You were right, Bri. You have enough to implicate Tanner with all of this, but you would go down for it yourself as well.” Brian nodded and leaned back as well. “I guess my first question is what do you want to do from here?”

Brian turned on the couch to face Dom. “What do you mean?”

Dom shrugged slightly. “Just that. I mean, do you see yourself as a cop after this, do you want to turn in Tanner and hope for leniency yourself, you’ve already said you can’t continue like you have been so we know that isn’t an option.”

Brian sighed and closed his eyes, gingerly leaning back into the cushions of the couch. “I honestly don’t know. Like you just said, I know that I can’t keep on like I have been. I gotta get out now. Do I see myself as a cop? I don’t know. It’s what I know. I don’t know what else I could do if I wasn’t a cop. I don’t have a lot of savings. I can’t just quit and go find myself while I hike across Europe or anything.” Dom stretched his arms across the back of the couch and lightly kneaded Brian’s neck. Brian sighed and seemed to relax back further into Dom’s hand, enjoying the touch for a moment.

“What if you hadn’t become a cop. When you were a kid. What did you want to be when you grew up?” Dom asked.

“I don’t know man. I’ve had cars on the brain since high school. Man, Rome and I used to boost cars together and take them out joyriding. I would have loved to have worked on cars. But I just couldn’t see myself doing oil changes at Jiffy Lube or being a grunt mechanic at the local Ford dealer.”

“So. If you hadn’t ended up a cop you would have been a mechanic huh. So why don’t you make a career change?”

Brian opened his eyes and turned his head toward Dom. “What are you saying here Dom?”

Dom looked at Brian for a second before giving a small grin. “I guess I’m saying that when Vince left I have an opening in my shop. You’d need to work toward your ASE certification. And you’d start out as a grunt. But it ain’t Jiffy Lube and it sure as hell isn’t the local Ford dealer. It’s shitty pay, shitty benefits, but all in all I think we have fun. Business keeps growing, maybe that pay and benefits won’t be quite as shitty next year. What do you think?”

Brian grinned at Dom before nodding. “Yeah. I think it may be time for a career change after all.” Brian’s grin faded. “That still doesn’t help me with this though. I can’t just walk away from this. Tanner won’t let me.”

Dom gave a small snort. “Are you kidding? Tanner won’t have any choice but to let you walk away. He has just as much, if not more, to lose than you. Didn’t you ever see the movie WarGames?”

“Sure. What about it?”

“Remember how it was a computer game that simulated US and Russian thermonuclear war? If one side attacked, the other side would immediately attack back. End result? Mutual assured destruction. Neither side would win because both sides would be dead. That’s basically you and Tanner. He can’t expose you without exposing himself. You likewise can’t expose him. So if he doesn’t want to go down for this, you just need to convince him that if he doesn’t let you go that you are willing to take him down with you. Kind of like a game of chicken. Only he has more to lose than you, so he’ll have to blink first.”

Brian nodded slowly, thinking about what Dom had said. “Okay. Makes sense. So what do we do now?”

Dom smiled and leaned forward, lightly ruffling Brian’s head as he did so. “Now? Now we have fun setting it up.”

Brian and Dom grabbed a quick lunch from drive through and Brian slowly chewed on French fries, practically moaning with every bite. Dom stifled a groan of his own listening to Brian eat the fries. When had listening to someone enjoy their food become an erotic event? Dom shook the tension out of his shoulders and reached down to adjust himself in his cargo pants as they walked back into Brian’s apartment to continue planning. Finally, as the sun began to set, they leaned back on the couch again and looked at each other. Brian had a punchy grin on his face and his eyes were bright with high color on his cheeks.

Dom just grinned at Brian before standing up and gathering their notes and files together. “Come on Bri, let’s head back to the house before Mia gets worried and starts calling.” Dom reached down and gave Brian a hand to help avoid pulling his ribs. Turning to walk around the coffee table to the door, Brian tripped over the leg of the table, stumbling forward. Dom quickly reached out with his free arm and pulled Brian back against his chest. Brian’s breath hitched as his ribs were jarred and he panted shallowly through the pain. Dom loosened his grip and spread his hand across Brian’s shoulder cradling him to his chest and whispering softly in his ear. Slowly he could feel Brian’s body start to relax as the pain slowly seeped away. Finally Brian straightened and stepped out of Dom’s arms. Clearing his through, Brian rasped his thanks, cheeks stained red. Dom gave a brief nod before following Brian to the door.

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Exhausted from the past two days, Brian headed up to bed directly after dinner. Once the dishes were done and the crew had settled in the living room with a few beers, Dom stood and turned off the TV. “Gotta problem we need to figure out.” Leon stopped complaining about missing his movie and sat back, prepared to listen. “I asked around while Brian was still in the hospital. Looks like daddy Tran was behind Brian’s beat down. We need to send a message letting him know that Brian is off limits.”

“What do you think we should do?” Letty asked.

“It’s obvious the police aren’t going to do anything. So we need to hit him where it hurts. His pockets. I need you guys to nose around, find out when his next shipment comes through. You know that Johnny and Lance were mules for his coke. Who’s moving product for him now? Once we know that? We can make sure he listens.”

Letty and Leon nodded. “Yeah, we can do that Dom.” Letty replied.

“Good. Let me know what you find out. I doubt Hector’s crew will know much, but they may know someone who does.” Dom gave one last look to them both before heading upstairs.

Dom stopped outside Brian’s room and watched him sleep for a moment. Dom’s lips tightened briefly when he saw the look on Brian’s face. He looked so lonely and scared. Dom knew that Brian was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that their relationship was not reality. Dom rubbed his eyes tiredly. The more time he spent around Brian and the more he thought about it, the more he began to think maybe it could have become reality. That maybe the idea wasn’t that far-fetched after all. Dom always appreciated a fine vehicle, regardless of the make. Brian challenged him like no one else dared and his wit kept Dom on his toes. And Brian’s Snowman temperament was a good offset to his own flash fire temper. He had never considered anything could happen once Brian and Mia had started dating, but he couldn’t help but respond when Brian looked at him with such longing and trust in his bright blue eyes. Brian let out a small whimper in his sleep and Dom swiftly walked to his side. Smoothing Brian’s forehead, Dom quietly shushed him, trying to sooth him back to sleep. Brian settled back and once again slept soundly. Lightly stroking Brian’s forehead once more, Dom then turned and went to his room to sleep.

Three days later all of the plans were in place. Dom felt like he was playing chess, organizing retribution against Tran while helping Brian set up his meeting with Tanner. Letty and Leon had discovered when Tran’s next shipment of cocaine was arriving and the warehouse that it would be stored in until it could be distributed. Based on what they had learned, the shipment should arrive tomorrow night around midnight, the mules would begin distribution the following day and the warehouse would be empty within 48 hours. After asking around the racing scene, Dom had hired a few kids to toss a few Molotov cocktails into the warehouse once the cocaine had been unloaded. The plan was to set a diversionary fire at the truck yard. Then, once the blaze was out of control, hit the warehouse from all sides with a rain of fire. Finally, Dom hired a team down in Colombia to hit one of Tran’s major suppliers. Tran would receive a message warning him off Brian unless he wanted his remaining suppliers and warehouses hit as well.

The meeting with Tanner was a little more sensitive. While Dom knew how criminals thought and felt he knew how Tran would respond, he wasn’t sure how a criminal protected by his shield would respond. Finally, however, things were set and ready to be put in motion. Brian called Tanner and requested that they meet at Rosie’s, a local dinner sufficiently out of the way that Brian didn’t think any other police officers would be there.

Brian looked around as he walked into Rosie’s looking for Tanner as well as anyone else that he may recognize. Not seeing anyone, Brian made his way to a back booth. Huffing a quiet laugh, Brian figured with his luck the man in the next booth was someone from Internal Affairs that he met last month. Placing his files on the table next to his elbow, Brian piled up the menu and glanced through it.

“What can I do ya for?” the waitress asked.

Brian glanced up and automatically smiled. The waitress, Sandy, had her hair up in a 1950’s beehive with at least two pencils sticking out at odd angles. Her dark red lips perfectly offset her bright blue eye shadow. However, instead of looking like a caricature she looked like a woman who enjoyed her job and the customers. Brian suspected that she had loyal customers that came specifically to see her. “Well, what’s good here? I’m thinking pie. What types do you have?”

The waitress began to rattle off the flavors so quickly Brian could hardly keep up. “Well, we’ve got apple, mixed berry, key lime, cherry or pecan. We’ve also got peach cobbler and some chocolate cake, but it was made yesterday so I wouldn’t recommend that one.” Sandy threw a wink at Brian with her pencil poised to write down his order.

“Hmmm. I’ll try the apple pie I guess.” Brian replied as he put away the menu.

“You want ice cream with that?” she asked.

“Sure. Why not. I also want a coffee. Black. Please.” She scribbled something on her notepad and with a final saucy wink she went to the counter to get his order. Glancing at his phone, Brian noted that Tanner was a few minutes late. As the waitress dropped off his pie and coffee Brian saw Tanner come through the door, glancing around much as Brian had. Thanking Sandy, Brian waved his hand in a small salute before he began to eat. Tanner gave a brief nod and headed his way.

Sliding into the booth opposite Brian, Tanner raised his fingers to call the waitress over. “What can I do ya for?” Sandy asked again.

Without even looking at the waitress, Tanner pointed to Brian’s food. “I’ll have what he’s having.” Sandy gave a curt nod and went to get his order. Brian continued to slowly eat his pie while Tanner waited for his food. While he wasn’t ready to tackle beef jerky or anything else tough or chewy, Brian was enjoying his renewed since of wonder at food. He hadn’t realized how wonderful texture and taste was until could only have chocolate shakes waiting on his jaw to heal.

Once Tanner’s food had been delivered, Tanner nodded to the waitress and then leaned forward across to Brian. “I didn’t expect to hear from you for a few more days. Have you been cleared for light duty early?”

Brian shook his head. “No. Not exactly.”

Tanner shook his head. “Brian. I know you are eager to get back to work, but if I have you work the Auman case before you are officially back it increases the risk of people asking questions. Questions we don’t need to answer. I know I said I needed your help quickly but we can wait a few more days until you are officially back on duty. If necessary, we can backdate your reports to prior to... to your incident.”

Brian shook his head again. “That’s not what this meeting is about.”

Tanner looked at Brian with confusion evident in his eyes. “I’m afraid I don’t understand, Brian. What did you want to meet about then? Your case? I’m afraid without any witnesses we just don’t have any avenues to pursue on who attacked you. I’m sorry. I wish I could give you a different answer on that.”

“No,” Brian replied. “Not about who attacked me. About my getting out. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.”

Tanner leaned back with a calculating look in his eyes. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that Brian. We talked about this after the Toretto case. You’re in for the long haul.”

Brian watched Tanner impassively for a few minutes. “What was your exit plan?” he suddenly asked.

“Exit Plan? I don’t know what you mean.”

Brian carefully watched Tanner and noticed something flash in Tanner’s eye and suddenly he knew what Tanner’s exit plan was. He couldn’t have risked letting Brian go once this was done. He couldn’t trust that somehow Brian would implicate him. So he would have had to take care of Brian in a more permanent manner. Brian quickly reassessed his approach. It wouldn’t be enough to let Tanner know that he would gladly take Tanner down with him if he tried to pin this on Brian, but he also had to make Tanner believe that he had copies somewhere safe with instructions to publish if anything happened to him. Fuck. He and Dom should have thought about this angle. And they needed to get those files to someone. At least he had only brought copies of the files. They had thought that part through at least. Maybe whatever lawyer Dom used for the business. If he had one. Brian quickly focused back on Tanner, hoping he hadn’t noticed his racing thoughts.

“You know,” Brian replied slowly, “exit plan. How this was all going to end. Eventually it had to end, right?” Brian took the last remaining bite of pie before pushing the small plate away and sitting back and patting his belly like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Well, I’m ready for that plan. And I have my own ideas of how it should go.”

Tanner raised one eyebrow at Brian. “Really. Do you now. Well, I would love to hear it.” Brian silently pushed the files he had brought over to Tanner. Tanner glanced down scornfully, and then seemed to do a double take as the names on the files registered. “What is this? Taking police files from the station? You know that is against the law Brian.”

Brian snorted. “Really? That’s what you would throw at me? Look in the files Lieutenant Tanner. Taking copies from the station is really the least of our worries now, isn’t it?” Brian leaned forward and braced his hands on the table. “I’ll give you a moment. Why don’t you look at the file on top. The Wallace case. I believe that was the one where you had me plant the murder weapon on Jamal Wallace? The murder weapon that was located in Judge Kinsey’s study? I took notes. Very detailed notes. Of every conversation that we had. Every order that you gave me. Did I mention the photos that I took that I never logged in as evidence? So. Let’s talk about my exit strategy now, shall we?”

Tanner slowly flipped through the file in his hand. The calculating look in his eyes gave way to fear. Then swiftly changed to fury. Tanner carefully closed the file in his hand and placed it on the table. “What did you have in mind?”

Brian gave a grim smile. “First let’s talk insurance. You noticed, of course, that these are not originals. Rest assured that the originals are in a safe place.”

Tanner gave a dark laugh. “What’s your angle? These implicate you as much as me. You can’t take them to the authorities without going to jail yourself.”

Brian smirked. “Maybe not, but are you willing to see what sort of deal I could strike with IA? Who would they rather give a deal to? The detective just following orders or the Lieutenant that orchestrated the whole thing.” Brian coolly watched Tanner as this sunk in. “However. Let me walk away. You let me go, I’ll just keep the originals in a safe place. But rest assured. If anything happens to me, or anyone in Dominic’s crew, even so much as a jaywalking ticket, I’ll have these files in IA’s hands before you can blink. Think about it. Let me know in the morning.” With that, Brian gathered up the files and threw a $20 on the table before walking out.

Brian slid into his car and quickly began to drive toward the garage. Thinking back to how the meeting had gone, Brian felt a smile cross his face. It had gone better than he had hoped. He knew Tanner would go for it. He didn’t have a choice. Brian hadn’t been bluffing back at the diner. He was willing to go to IA with his evidence and take a gamble on a deal. He couldn’t go back to whatever he had been doing before. This was it. This was his do-over and he wasn’t going to waste it. Arriving at the garage, Brian quickly drove around back and parked his car, anxious to tell Dom how the meeting had gone. As he stepped out of the car, Brian raised his hand to wave at the crew working in the garage. Turning to close his door, Brian didn’t notice that his cast on his left arm was tangled in the seatbelt. As he turned, Brian was pulled off balance and stumbled into the car doorframe, knocking his head. Cursing, Brian untangled from the seatbelt and slammed the door shut before walking toward the garage. Feeling dizzy, Brian put his hand up to his head and staggered to the left. Looking over at the garage, Brian faintly heard Dom shouting and he had time to wonder why Dom was running sideways before darkness overcame him and he collapsed to the ground.

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Skidding to a stop next to Brian’s prone form, Dom quickly gathered Brian’s limp body close to his chest. “Come on Brian. Don’t do this to me.” He whispered as he brushed Brian’s hair back, checking for blood. Not finding anything, Dom sighed a quick breath of relief. Pulling Brian close, Dom looked over as Leon ran up next to him. “Help me get him up. Let’s get him to the garage out of the heat.” Together the two men hoisted Brian between them and, each grabbing an arm around their necks, quickly walked to the couch in the garage where they gently put Brian down on the couch.

Leon stepped back nervously. “Do we need to call an ambulance or something? I mean, he didn’t hit it that hard it didn’t seem, but since the Trans fucked him up pretty good I didn’t know…” Leon trailed off.

Dom looked up helplessly. “I don’t know. Yeah. No. Help me get him into the car. I’ll drive him in. I’ll get there faster.”

Together they quickly pulled Brian up between them and walked to Dom’s charger, gently putting Brian in the back seat. Closing the door, Dom hopped into the front seat, giving Leon a brief nod before pulling out of the parking lot and onto the street. As Dom drove furiously to the hospital, he heard a faint groan from the back seat. Glancing quickly back, Dom saw Brian lift a shaking hand to his forehead. Dom quickly pulled into the next strip mall, parking and hopping out to open the back door. “Brian. You alright there?”

Brian gave a faint groan again.

Dom reached out and gently touched Brian’s cheek, giving a soft caress. As he pulled back his hand, brilliant blue eyes opened and stared up at him. “Wha’ happened?”

Dom gave a quick smile. “You hit your head getting out of your car. Knocked yourself out. I was taking you to the hospital.”

Brian struggled to sit up. “Nah man. No hospital. Just take me back to my place. My head feels like it’s in a vice, I need to lay down.”

Dom nodded. “Okay. But not your place. We’re going back to my place. It didn’t look like a hard hit, but I want someone with you until we know you didn’t get a concussion.”

Brian gave up trying to sit up and collapsed back across the seats. “Whatever, man. I just need to be somewhere dark and quiet.”

Dom quickly climbed back in the front seat and drove to Echo Park. Parking in the garage, Dom quickly helped Brian out and up the stairs to his room. Gently lowering Brian to the bed, Dom grabbed each shoe and pulled them off, tossing them against the wall across the room. Dom helped Brian lay back and went to the bedroom door. “I’ll be around. Call if you need me.” Brian weakly raised a hand to acknowledge he heard and closed his eyes, willing sleep to come.

Brian woke to excited voices talking over each other, adrenalin running high in their voices. Brian sat up and quickly grabbed his head, breathing deeply until the pain slowly faded. Brian quickly looked around the room in puzzlement, wondering where he was. Getting out of bed, Brian quietly went to the door, carefully looking out, trying to determine where he was. Suddenly a piercing pain shot behind his right eye and he knelt to the ground. Holding his head, Brian grimaced in pain. As quickly as the pain started it disappeared, leaving Brian kneeling on the ground. He remembered. He remembered everything. He remembered letting Dom go, striking a deal with the devil, and slowly dying a little more each day as he acted as Tanner’s puppet. He remembered driving to Chinatown to interview Tyler’s girlfriend. He then remembered waking up in the hospital and seeing Dom standing over him and the feeling of contentment and safety that rushed through him even as he fell back asleep. He remembered his date with Mia. And most of all, he remembered that throughout his date with Mia he had wished he was on a date with Dom. And that as he kissed Mia he had wished that he was kissing Dom.

A loud burst of laughter broke through Brian’s concentration and he slowly got to his feet. Lightly cupping his ribs he absently wondered if he had reinjured any of them with his fall yesterday. Brian slowly went downstairs to find Leon, Letty and Mia laughing while Dom described something. Dom stopped mid-sentence when he saw Brian.

“Brian. You with us again? You were kind of out of it when we woke you a few times last night.”

Brian could hear Letty and Mia still giggling about something but he was completely focused on Dom. Brian nodded and flashed a huge grin. “Yeah. I am. I finally, really am.”

Dom gave a confused smile. “How’s your head this morning? We gave you some of your Percocet last night when we gave you your antibiotics, do you need another?”

If possible, Brian’s grin grew bigger. “Nah. I’m good. I remember.”

Dom raised an eyebrow and the others grew quiet. “You remember us waking you? You seemed pretty groggy to me.”

Brian shook his head and his eyes danced. “No. I don’t remember that. But I remember. I finally remember everything.”

Mia and Letty quickly jumped up and gave Brian hugs, squealing with excitement. Leon stood and clapped Brian on the back, whispering that he was glad he was back. Brian gave them each vague answers, but kept his focus on Dom, noticing the quick flash of disappointment that passed through his eyes before a smile settled across his face. Nodding to the others, Brian slowly stepped out of their grasp.

Dom’s eyes tracked him as Brian stepped closer. “You know what else I remember Dom?” Dom gave a small head shake and Brian stepped even closer. “I remember my date with Mia to Cha Cha Cha and I remember wishing it was with you.” Taking a chance, Brian quickly to the final step to close the distance between them and grabbed Dom’s shoulders, pulling him into a kiss. He felt Dom stiffen briefly before opening his mouth and returning the kiss with equal ferocity. Brian grinned into the kiss when he heard Mia and Letty each say “Awwww” at them while Leon muttered and sat heavily back down in his seat.

Pulling back, Brian looked into Dom’s eyes and smiled, feeling a surge of emotion when Dom grinned back and leaned in for another quick kiss. Stepping back, Brian turned to the others. “So what was the celebration that was going on when I came down?”

Dom draped an arm over Brian’s shoulder, pulling him in close. “We sent a message to Daddy Tran last night that you were off limits. Heard from him this morning that the message was received loud and clear. So hopefully there won’t be a repeat of the last time you went to Chinatown.” Dom gave a quick snort. “Although I wouldn’t go cruising the streets by yourself.”

Brian nodded thoughtfully. “Oh! Do you know where my phone is? I didn’t see it by the bed upstairs.”

Dom nodded and briefly left the room, returning with his phone. “Sorry ‘bout that. Things were hectic last night.”

Brian shrugged and grinned, quickly checking for messages. Seeing one from Tanner, Brian opened it to read one word. Agreed. Brian turned his phone for Dom to read the message while explaining to the others what it said. Slipping his phone back into his pocket, Brian turned to Dom. “So. I hear you are looking to hire some new help? Shitty pay. Shitty benefits.”

Brian smirked when Letty muttered “You got that right.”

“But I hear that they have a lot of fun.” He finished.

“Damn right brother!” Leon called out.

“Yeah. That about wraps up the job that I have open. You interested?”

Brian grinned before pulling Dom close again. “I’ll consider it and let you know next week.” With that Brian pulled Dom in for another kiss, vaguely hearing the catcalls behind him as he and Dom explored each other’s mouth.

Dom smiled as he pulled back from the kiss. “Let’s see if we can make some of those memories you thought you had a reality.”

Brian grinned and replied. “I like the sound of that.”

Dom squeezed the back of Brian’s neck gently before pulling him back in for another kiss. “How did our date go after we left Cha Cha Cha? I might need a demonstration.”

Brian barked out a laughed and gently tugged Dom toward the stairs. “I think that can be arranged.”

 

THE END