Family Loyalty

9.1

The next day Ally, Jesse, Dom, Letty, Leon, Mia, and Brian are at the garage working on the car.

"Got a TR7 here, with a ball-bearing upgrade. What it's going to do is, it's going to spool up really quick," Jesse explains as he, Ally, and Letty work on the engine.

"I got this set up for 24 psi," Ally tells Jesse.

"Got it," Jesse says.

"You got big plans tonight?" Dom asks Brian as they work on the car.

"Yeah. We're going out to dinner," Brian answers.

"You break her heart, I'll break your neck," Dom tells him causing Ally to smile at his protectiveness of his sister. She knows her brothers would be the same way.

"That's not gonna happen," Brian says and even though it wasn't true it still hurt Ally a little bit.

"I want to show you something," Dom says as he wipes his hands off before handing the rag to Brian. "Ally let's go." Ally nods before following Dom and Brian. Dom takes them back to the Toretto household and then leads them to the garage. He opens it to reveal a 1970 Dodge Charger.

"Wow," Ally says with a smile as Brian nods in agreement.

"Me and my dad built her. Nine hundred horses of Detroit muscle," Dom explains.

"It's a beast," Brian says.

"You know what she ran in Palmdale?" Dom asks them.

"No. What?" Brian answers.

"Nine seconds flat," Dom answers.

"God," Ally says in amazement.

"My dad was driving. So much torque, the chassis twisted coming off the line. Barely kept her on the track," Dom explains with a smile.

"So, what's your best time?" Brian asks him.

"I've never driven her," Dom answers.

"Why not?" Ally asks.

"It scares the shit out of me," Dom answers her before turning and pointing at a picture on the wall. "That's my dad. He was coming up in the pro stock-car circuit. Last race of the season. A guy named Kenny Linder came up from inside, in the final turn. He clipped his bumper and put him into the wall at 120. I watched my dad burn to death. I remembered hearing him scream. But the people that were there said he had died before the tanks blew. They said it was me who was screaming." Dom walks around the car. "I saw Linder about a week later. I had a wrench, and I hit him. And I didn't intend to keep hitting him, but when I finished, I couldn't lift my arm." Brian sits down as he takes in all the information. "He's a janitor at a high school. He has to take the bus to work every day. And they banned me from the tracks for life." Ally gives Dom a hug which he accepts. "I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. Nothing else matters. Not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those 10 seconds or less, I'm free." Ally could tell that Brian was starting to see the Toretto's for who they truly were. After that they left the garage. Brian took Mia on the date while the team including Ally took another truck.

"So, how is it, anyways, that the gang came to be?" Brian asks Mia while they are on their date.

"What?" Mia asks.

"The gang?" Brian asks.

"The gang? No, they don't call themselves a gang," Mia says with a laugh. Brian honestly wished that he was sitting there with Ally instead of Mia.

"What do they call themselves?" Brian asks trying to get any information out of her.

"They're a team. They call themselves a team," Mia says with a giggle.

"All right. How did the team come to be?" Brian asks.

"Well, that's a whole lot of history," Mia answers.

"I've got time," Brian says with a smile.

"Okay. Vince grew up with my brother. Actually, he didn't ever actually grow up, as you can tell. But they were friends as kids. And Letty, she just lived down the street. Always into cars, though. Ever since she was, like, 10 years old. So, naturally, you know, my brother always had her attention. And then she turned 16..." Mia explains.

"And then she had Dom's attention," Brian finishes for her.

"Yeah. It's funny how that works, isn't it? Yeah," Mia says with a smile.

"How does Jesse fit into the whole thing?" Brian asks.

"Jesse. Well, Jesse and Leon just sort of showed up one night and never, ever left," Mia answers him.

"And Ally?" Brian asks since she was the only person he really wanted to know about.

"Ally's kinda like you. She just started eating at the diner before me and her became friends then she and Vince kind of hit it off, she's just never left.  It's just the way my brother is, you know. Dom's like... He's like gravity. Everything just gets pulled to him. Even you," Mia explains and Brian takes this as a chance to earn her trust even more.

"No," Brian says. "No. The only thing that pulled me in was you. Being friends with your brother is just a bonus."

"That's good," Mia says with a smile. "That's good. It's nice to come first every once in a while. Want to go for a drive?" They end up back at Harry's. Brian wakes up to his phone ringing.

"Yeah?" Brian answers.

"The hijackers have hit again. Bilkins has decided that we're gonna move on Johnny Tran and his guys at 17:00. Unless you say otherwise. If you agree, just say yes," Tanner explains causing Brian to think about the story Dom told him and Ally.

"Yeah," Brian agrees as Mia wakes up.

"Who is that?" Mia asks him.

"It's just a wrong number," Brian lies to her. Mia smiles before they go back to sleep.