Fast Track ∞ B. O'Conner

047 - close to home

☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆

DESPITE THE MEN'S BEST EFFORTS,
there was no way to convince Jules to stay home. She was a new mom and should want to stay with her son, keep him safe, but when her mind is set, there's no changing it.

Mia, being slightly more rational, stayed back, keeping Jack fully in her care. The two stayed in the villa with the comfort of silence and Jack's toys as he became more aware of them.

"It was risky for you to come." Brian reminded her as he stood with Gisele and Han. She glared at him, feeling a slight pang in her heart. She didn't want to look like a bad mother. In fact, she wanted to end this.

She was there when Letty died. She was at the crash site and now she's going to see if her best friend is alive. "It's not like I'll be in the action." She snickered.

"Thank God!" Tej said as he and Roman walked into the room full of computers, track devices, and weapons. "Finally, some equipment I can work with. Way better than that trash in Rio."

"What up, boy?" Rome greeted, knocking his fist against Han's.

Gisele loads her gun with a loud click. "Way better." She agreed.

"Doll, shouldn't you be at home with the little guy?" Rome asked, pulling the brunette into a hug.

She shook her head, ignoring Brian's gaze. "This one hits close to home." She told him. "Some aren't so happy, though." She muttered.

Roman looked at the couple with a confused look. It had been a few months since he last seen them. Their only way of communication was through the brief texts sent back and forth, but he always assumed they were fine.

"Has anybody heard from Leo or Santos?" Brian asked, referring to the two men who were a part of the group, but not present.

"Last time anyone saw them, they were hitting up the casinos in Monte Carlo." Han answered, chuckling to himself.

Roman lifted his head, looking at Han before his old friend. "I thought that was our last job, Brian. And who's paying for all this equipment? Taxpayers?" He asked.

He asks as two figures slowly come up behind him, but he doesn't notice. "So now we work for The Hulk? That's what we're doing?" Roman broadens his shoulders, trying to appear bigger. "Why do I smell baby oil?"

"If you keep running your piehole, you're going to smell an ass-kicking." Hobbs said, side-eyeing Roman as the two agents walked by him.

"All right, Hobbs." Dom called, moving away from the window and coming back to the group. "You got the best crew in the world standing right in front of you. Give 'em a reason to stay."

Hobbs looked around at the group, his hands brushing over the stack of papers before dropping it on the table. "Our target is Owen Shaw. Former major in the SAS, Spec-ops soldier."

The group moved closer to the table to catch a good look at their target. "He ran the UK's Mobility Division in Kabul and Basra." Hobbs explained.

"Ah, damn. That Mobility unit's the truth." Tej cursed, moving away from his spot and to the group. "We're talking vehicular warfare. Best in the world. Those guys don't mess around." He added.

"For years, they've been running jobs in Europe, but it's their most recent jobs that graduated them to a whole new level. Three targets, highly specific." Hobbs said, looking down at the files in his hand. "The program terminal for an ICBM missile..."

"Got any change?" Roman asked Tej, making Jules fully focus on the two instead of the mission.

"Seriously? You're a millionaire, and you're still trying to ask for money." Tej whispers in disgust, digging his pocket up for change and putting it in Roman's hand.

"That's how you stay a millionaire." Roman told him and walked past him to a vending machine.

Jules hid her laugh with a smile and looked back at Hobbs. "So, what does this all mean?" Her husband asked.

"Well, our best guess is that Shaw's crew is building a Nightshade device." Hobbs answered.

Jules furrowed her brows at the man. "A Nightshade device? The hell is that?" She asked.

"A tech bomb. Designed to block an entire military communication grid for twenty-four hours." Hobbs' agent, Riley, answered.

"If you blind a soldier for a single second in the middle of a fight, he dies. If you blind a country for twenty-four hours, the loss of life is unthinkable." Hobbs added, making Jules' throat tighten with dread. "This could be worth billions to the right buyer."

"Billions?" Tej repeated. "Why don't we just steal that shit?"

"Hey, man," Roman called, making everyone look towards him and the vending machine. "Which one of these things is a dollar? It says something about—"

Roman is cut off with a loud gunshot blaring through the room and shattering the glass of the machine, all of which came from Hobbs' gun. "It's on the house." He said, hoping he'd shut up. Jules put her hands to her ears, trying to ease the ringing.

"I want you to help me catch Shaw. He's only got one piece left that he needs, and I intend to stop him before he gets it. Now, I know you guys are a family. So I'm offering you a chance right now to make that family whole again." Hobbs dropped a photo of none other than Letty.

Jules felt sick looking at the picture. There was no one else that could possibly have the same eyes, nose, mouth, or complexion. It was her.

"You want to make this family whole again?" Brian asked, his eyes void as he looked at Hobbs. "Get us to Letty, we'll get you Shaw, full pardons all the way around." He demanded, getting everyone's interest.

"I can promise you that," Hobbs told him.

"Yes, you can," Brian disagreed as Dom wedged himself between the couple.

"That's the deal. Take it or leave it." Dom declared, smirking at Hobbs.

Hobbs' eyes tracked the group in front of him. None looked like they were going to back down. "You get me, Shaw, and I'll get your pardons."

"You heard him." Brian said to the group. "But this is different. We're not dealing with cops, we're not dealing with drug dealers. This is a whole different level."

"Yeah." Jules agreed. "But she's family."

Roman leaned into Brian, keeping his voice hushed. "We're getting paid, right?"