T2 - Family Forever

Chapter 10

I watched them get into the SUV's and did my best not to cry. Now isn't the time. When I walked back inside everyone was just standing there curiously.

"What just happened?" Tej asked.

"Brian and Dom just left with Nobody and his team." I told them.

"What?" they all asked.

"Why would they do that?" Letty asked worriedly.

"Dom wanted to go without Brian as it is but we knew he was up to something. He told Nobody that his team is made up of racers, the best drivers in the world but that you’re not killers. He's out for Shaw's blood because of what he's done to us. They do their best work together so I have to believe that they'll do this and come back." I said, walking back inside to sit down.

Time passed and I'm getting more anxious as each second passes. If I'm being honest, I don't really know how much time passed, all I know is that he's gone and he hasn't come back to me just yet.

Tej noticed before the rest of us that a Suburban was pulling up. He ran inside to tell us and I jumped up from the sofa and ran outside into his arms. The way they tightened around me tells me that we're in for some more bad news.

"What happened?" I asked them.

"Where's Mr. Nobody?" Letty asked.

"Where's his team?" Tej asked.

"It was an ambush, Shaw was waiting for us and he had some help." Brian angrily said.

"What do you mean he had help?" Roman asked.

"Shaw is working with Mose Jakande and they ambushed us at the factory." Dom said.

"The enemy of my enemy." I muttered.

"What?" Brian asked.

"There's a quote that I heard Campos, uh, Braga, saying once in the restaurant: "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". That's what we have here." I replied.

"That's what Shaw said." Dom told me.

"Great, what happens now?" I asked.

"There is a war coming to us, whether we like it or not. If a war is coming, we're gonna face them on the streets we know best." Dom said.

"How are we going back home?" I asked.

"Nobody set us up with transport to get back to LA. Get your things people, we're heading home." he ordered.

We got on the plane almost immediately and I noticed a tense conversation between Dom and Brian. Their body posture was conflictive and I have no idea what's going on. I just sat there alone, thinking about everything that's happened and everything that's gonna happen. This, whatever this is, isn't over yet and we're running headfirst into a literal war.

"Hey, are you okay? Babe, let's go." Brian asked me.

The plane had landed and we were already deboarding. I hadn't noticed time passing while a number of possibly horrifying scenarios worked through my mind.

"Yeah . . . I'm, uh, I'm fine, just thinking about all of this that we're walking into." I replied, taking his hand and walking out with him.

"It's a lot to take in, let's go. Dom wants us all to go to the place." he said with a tight smile.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I'm fine, I just want this to be over so that I can sit and relax with the two most important people in my life." he replied, kissing my head.

We drove to Brian's and my spot. It's a parking lot overlooking LA, Brian told me that he used to come here and practice his driving and drifting when we first met. It was his safe place so now it'll be ours.

"Look, I'm all for winging it, but this is crazy, man. We got mercenaries with some real heat on us. I mean, I ain't scared or nothing, but . . . man, I don't even have a gun!" Roman complained.

"Gun?" Dom asked.

"We got a whole city." I told him, feeling Brian's hand squeeze around me.

"And we may have more than that. If they use God's Eye, it'll tap into the cameras around town to find our location. Which means we could plant a virus to find theirs." Tej said.

"And then break in when they access it. So you're talking about hacking my hacking device, it's brilliant." Ramsey said.

"I sense a but coming." I told them.

"Yeah, there's one problem with the brilliant plan." Tej said.

"Which is?" I asked.

"The signal strength. We can't start a hack on them until they're within a two-mile rang." he replied.

"That's not good." I said.

"That's really close." Letty said.

"Close? These guys are military! If they're within two miles of us, we're already dead. I don't know about y'all, but I didn't really plan on dying today." Roman argued.

"Only one way to stay alive. We play keep-away with Ramsey." Brian suggested.

"What?" the subject of the game shrieked.

"They can't hit us if we keep moving." I added.

"And I'll take Shaw." Dom said.

"Of course you will." I said, grabbing my cousin's hand.

"So, basically, we're just gearing up for a big game of hot potato, huh?" Tej asked.

"Which car is the potato?" Ramsey naively asked.

"Girl, you're the potato." Roman said, making her shriek again.

Everyone separated at that point to get ready for tomorrow night. I have a bad feeling, a really bad feeling about all of this.

"We've been up against some pretty bad things but, this seems a lot worse than anything we've faced before." I told Brian, taking his hand in mine.

We were in a rented motel room for the night, just getting mentally ready for everything that's about to come at us.

"I wanna talk to you about that." he said, looking at our hands.

"You want me to leave." I muttered, finally figuring out what they were talking about.

"These guys are not playing around and the plan is really dangerous. You said that . . ."

"If it got too dangerous, I would leave with no questions asked. I know, is it really necessary though?" I asked, feeling the tears start to pool.

"I wouldn't ask you to leave if I didn't think it was. I won't put you in danger this way, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to you." he said, cupping my cheek.

"Brian, I . . . you don't . . . I can't . . . when did you want me to leave?"

"In the morning, it's safest for you that way and Roman offered his jet to minimize flight time." he said.

I understand where he's coming from and honestly, I had been thinking about it myself these past few hours but actually doing it is harder than I thought.

"Charlie, please, I honestly don't want you to be here for this." he pleaded.

"Charlotte, I know that you wanted to . . ." Dom said, walking in through the adjoining door.

"It's okay, I'll leave. I need you both to be focused on what you're gonna do so that you can come back to us. I'll leave in the morning." I told them.

"Okay, that's good. I'm gonna let you guys get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning to say goodbye." he said, kissing my head and leaving.

"You don't look relieved." I said to Brian.

"I am but I wish I could . . ."

"Don't, you're doing what you have to do to protect us. After this we're done, we'll be a family and nothing else. Right?"

"Right, I promise."