Chapter 3
Toretto's two companions stuck close to him as they walked the hallway towards the sound of Brian's laughter. On the walls were photos of various cars and people. Some photos were of Cody, sitting atop people's shoulders or on a fancy car. Dom knew each and every model of vehicle in the hall and somewhat impressed that Brian had done so well.
The hallway opened up from a single door into one of the most hi-tech garages the trio had ever seen. The ceiling was high and had skylights. Speakers filled the four corners and were blasting music.
There were various areas for cars to be worked on. A few different mechanics were already tinkering on a few of them.
The one known as Roman was shining someone's Ferrari. Brian had moved a piece of the Audi to a work bench and was tinkering with it. Cody was sitting on the corner of the work bench, swinging his legs absently.
"I'm impressed O'Connor." Leon said as he glanced around. Vince said nothing, opting to just cross his arms over his chest and glare.
"Leon, Vince." said Brian. He finished with the part and took it to Tej.
"What do you think Tej?" he asked.
Tej took the piece and examined it.
"At least it ain't shot." he said.
He glanced up as he realized they had company.
"So Bri. Are you gonna introduce us to your friends?" he asked, standing up and leaning against the half finished car. Brian sighed and glanced around.
"Tej Parker, Roman Pearce, Suki Liu, this is Dominic Toretto, Leon Daniels, and Vince Williams." he went through the introductions.
Rome definitely wasn't happy.
"So this is the guy huh?" he asked, standing up to his full size.
Brian rolled his eyes.
"Not now Rome. Cody doesn't need to see that." he said.
Cody jumped down from his perch. He trotted around all the tall people and stopped to stand in front of Vince. The ma stared down at him. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable with this young teenager just watching him. The boy had a somewhat innocent expression on his face but in his eyes Vince could see an inquisitive look.
"You were in my book." he said.
He stuck his hands in his back pockets, his legs unable to stop moving. It wasn't something he could control. When he finished physical therapy, he had been angry that he would have to sit just to get his legs to stop moving. The doctor had told him that it was his brain firing wrong. It was telling him that he was still on the move. Over the past years though, he had accepted that he couldn't change it. It had almost become an unconscious thing he didn't pay attention to anymore.
Vince though, wasn't sure what to do. For one, Dom hadn't tried to kill Brian and hadn't said a word about anything in the past. Second, Brian and Dom didn't seem to have as much tension between them as he would have thought.
"Cody c'mon. Leave him alone and go back to your math homework." Brian told him, guiding the younger O'Connor away from Vince. He was hesitant to let the 'out of control and usually angry' man around his brother.
"Brian." Dom started, the fight seeming to leave him. Brian sighed and glanced over at him.
"We need to talk." Dom told him..
Brian knew it was coming. But the tone of Dom's voice showed him that the man had resigned his anger at least for the time being.
"Outside." was Brian's simple answer.
He moved away from his brother and traveled out the overhead garage door. Dom motioned for Leon and Vince to stay before following the other man.
Once they were outside, Suki stood up and placed her hands on her hips.
"Well, I'm hungry. C'mon Tej sweetie. Let's go get lunch for everyone." she said.
Tej seemed unsure with the unfamiliar men still in his garage. At least Rome was there to keep them out of things. And keep Cody from getting into trouble. He hesitantly got up and followed his girlfriend out of the garage.
Cody glanced out the door as Suki and Tej fought about whose car to take before approaching Vince again. Rome looked about to stop him.
"Do you know anything about math?" Cody asked.
TF&TF
Brian walked towards the parking lot for employees where his own blue Porsche Cayman was parked. Dom admired how clean and juiced up it was. Brian had kept it in such great condition. Dom leaned against the side and stared expectantly at its owner.
"So what's been going on Brian?" he asked.
"Six months ago, after I let you go, I lost my badge. About that time, Cody came to live with me. He wasn't always the way he is today. He ma be fifteen but he sure was an adult. One of the smartest kids in his classes. Knew everything there is to know about cars. Great and loyal to family and friends. But you couldn't get on his bad side." Brian started, looking everywhere else but at Dom.
"Five months after he came to live with me, he and a friend went joyriding. No one knew the friend's license was suspended. He was driving erratically ad the cops tried to pull him over. That's when he took off. Cody kept yelling at him to stop but the kid wouldn't listen. Even the cops could see my brother through the back windshield struggling with him.
"The driver lost control of the car and flipped it. Cody's side smashed into a tree. Driver walked away with a few broken ribs and cuts and bruises." Brian paused as his voice disappeared. He ran a hand roughly through his hair and stayed so quiet that Dom wasn't sure he was going to continue. But Brian did.
"Cody was in a coma for a month. Thirty days Dom! Thirty days I spent sitting at my brother's bedside just begging him to wake up."
"What were his injuries?"
Brian looked at Dom.
"Broken collarbone, broken wrist, most of the injuries were internal. His spleen had to be removed, one lung was collapsed and his small intestine was nicked. Worst was his brain. The constant leg movements, memory loss, child-like behavior, fall risk. All because of his TBI." Brian finished. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, very tense.
Dom was quiet. The information was shocking. It had been three long years for both men. Dom though had been in Colombia where Letty had disappeared. She left Dom a note explaining she needed to find her own way and would always love him. Mia had never had any charges on her so she had reluctantly gone back to LA where she got a job at a prestigious hospital and met someone. So much for Brian. She explained to Dom that while she still loved Brian, she couldn't wait around forever and needed to move on as Letty had. So it had just been the boys, no idea what to do next.
Then the news had come from one of his contacts that there were no charges against them anymore and reporters were talking of conspiracies with corrupt cops. Somehow Dom knew that they were talking about Brian.
He had given it a month before trying to locate O'Connor.
There was the matter of not looking suspicious that he had to keep in mind. The blonde had not been in LA as suspected but in the racing world, news got around fast about new or extraordinary racers. Brian, or Bullet as they called him, was one of them. It took them a while before they found out that Brian was Bullet and immediately headed to Chicago, the home of the reports. So many had stories of Brian's racing and his group and Com couldn't help but feel proud of his once brother. The cop knew what he was doing. Dom had debated whether he would go to the garage once he found out about it. Vince had tried to talk him out of it, not seeming to care that Brian had saved his life. But Dom had chosen to brave it.
"Things have been hard the past few years. I know I did wrong to your family but please, for Cody's sake, don't make things bad here. Everything and every day is a struggle. If it isn't Cody, then It's Alex or Roman..."
"Alex?" Dom asked.
"Alex is my other brother. Ten years older than Cody. I expect he's at the firehouse right now but it's more likely he's at Kelly's place." Brian told him. He shook his head at Dom's questioning glance.
"You'll meet them all later. It's hard to miss them when they come over." Brian explained.
Dom smirked and scratched the side of his forehead.
"You've got to have the most crazy family I've ever seen." he said.
Brian felt the tension leave his body although it stayed on the back burner just in case.
"Well I learned from the best." he said.
He glanced at the garage and stood up straight.
"I'd better get back in there. With Suki and Tej gone, there's no telling what Rome and Cody are doing." he said.
It didn't matter if Dom was following him. But the crunch of gravel under boots told him that Dom's decision had already been made.
Brian saw Rome first. He was wiping his hands on a rag, his attention focused on the other side of the room. Brian followed his gaze and smirked.
Vince was leaning over Cody, one hand leaning on the boy's chair and the other on the table in front of them.
"See? It does equal twenty four." Vince said, pointing at an equation on the paper. Cody didn't answer. He instead finished writing the equation out.
"Well as I live and breathe. Vince Williams knows something about math!" Dom said with a chuckle.
Vince sat up quickly as if caught doing something wrong. Brian couldn't believe Cody had gotten the man to calm down. Vince had always been a hard head. The only times Brian had seen Vince smile was when Jesse did something funny.
Brian's heart strings tugged at the thought of the fallen kid. It hadn't been forgotten and he always thought about what he could have done to save the young man.
Brian snapped out of his thoughts by the return of Suki and Tej.
"We just got the standard for your friends Brian. We didn't know what they would want." Suki said.
Brian disappeared into the shop bathroom as Suki began handing out sandwiches. They were from a local place owned by Suki's uncle. Cody took his and immediately started heading outside.
"Ah ah. C'mon Cody you know the rules. Every day at noon..." Brian started as he walked out of the bathroom with a pill bottle in his hand.
"I take a pill with my lunch. Yes mother." Cody answered in a childish voice. He took the offered pill from his older brother before trotting outside.
Brian grabbed his food and moved back to the work bench he had previously occupied.
"You owe Suki $22.50 for your food." Roman told the guests.
Suki smacked his shoulder.
"Quit it. You guys don't owe me anything." she said.
Tej laughed.
"Now you see why I love this woman." he said, leaning up to give his love a kiss on her cheek.
TBC
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