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~*~*~*~ Brian glanced back in his rear view mirror, grinning at how relaxed Dom looked sprawled in the driver's seat of the car behind him.Dom was driving a 1970 Super Stock 454 El Camino they had recently finished restoring. It had been their project for the last few months, something to keep them busy on slow days and the nights they were too wide-awake to sleep. Doing everything on the El Camino themselves had been a labor of love in more ways than one. Even after over a year together, memories of the years apart were still fresh enough in their minds that it was impossible for them to take each other for granted. They sometimes drove their family a little crazy with the way they still forgot themselves and got lost in each other at the slightest excuse, and they had gotten caught together so many times even Brian wasn't very embarrassed by it anymore, but they wouldn't have changed it for the world.Brian and Dom loved their life in Miami, where they were both happier than they could ever remember being before. The houseboat behind the garage had gone from being just a place for Brian and Dom to sleep to being what the whole family thought of as home. First the unused bedroom on the boat had been converted to a large kitchen designed with cooking for the whole family in mind, and then an awning had been extended off the back of the garage to cover the pier where Leon and Rome built a huge picnic table. It was where the family ate together often, whether someone did the cooking or they ordered out, and where they set up a big buffet whenever they decided to spend a day on the river or just have a barbecue and share with anyone who showed up. The barbecue pit Tej and Jimmy used to keep in storage most of the time now lived permanently behind the garage under one end of the awning and it was used a few times a week, sometimes more.It wasn't just the boat and the dock area that felt like home to Brian and Dom, though, not by far. They had joked more than once that the boat was their bedroom and kitchen, and the dock was the dining room, but the garage was the living room, family room, and man cave all rolled into one. 'Working' on high-end performance cars to max out what could be done with technology and an intimate knowledge of interior combustion engines was like being paid to play all the time for Dom and Brian, not to mention most of the rest of the family, but even their family sometimes teased them about the fact that their favorite hobby -- besides each other -- was tinkering with another car. Restoring classic cars was very different from their daily work in the garage to Dom and Brian, and they both loved it.The El Camino was the third project car that they had found to restore, but it had been the most difficult by far. It had been a literal wreck when they found it in a junkyard in west Texas on the way home after visiting Mia and Vince a few months earlier, but they had no problem seeing past the damage to what the car could be. The car had a spectacularly blown engine then that was essentially shattered, and it had gotten pretty beat up after it was dumped in a junkyard to be a parts car, but the frame was still straight and true and the body had almost no rust.The car was missing almost as many parts as it had intact when they found it, but they didn't mind. They had enjoyed every minute of hunting down the vintage parts it needed and doing the body work by hand together to bring the El Camino back to life. It took them months of working on it in their free time to get it finished, but they enjoyed it so much it was almost disappointing when they finally got it fully restored and factory correct inside and out except for the paint.Painting the car had been the one thing they debated about from the day they unloaded it at the garage and pushed it into their bay, even though they agreed instantly that it needed to have the standard tan saddle leather interior. They originally intended to take it all back to factory specs, even the paint, but they soon realized that they just didn't like any of the factory options. The torn up hood that was on the car when they bought it had gone through layer after layer of the 1970 standard paint colors while they tried to decide, switching back and forth between forest green, black cherry, and tuxedo black several times each before they decided to just go custom.They easily agreed on painting the car a deep green much darker than the factory shades, but they couldn't quite get the look they wanted by just mixing paint. Dom was ready to just go with the stock forest green after a dozen failures to mix up just the right color of paint, but Brian stubbornly refused to give up until he got it right. He finally had the idea to layer easily available paint colors instead of mixing them, and after a few tries he got just the right combination to give them an effect that they both loved.Painting the El Camino had taken them all day one Sunday in a borrowed paint shed behind the body shop Brian always went to for paint. They began with a layer of a matte black primer and then wet sanded it to cut the paint and repeated the matte black before they painstakingly taped off narrow custom pin stripes to highlight the lines of the car and lay out where they wanted the racing stripes. Next they sanded the matte black lightly again and added a layer of the stock tuxedo black that they taped off for the racing stripes up over the hood, roof, and tailgate, topping the black on the rest of the car finally with light layer of a high gloss paint called green candy before they removed all the tape and clear coated it all.The end result looked black at some angles, but under lights or in sunlight you could see it was truly a dark green with subtle matte black pin striping and glossy black racing stripes, and it looked just as tough as it truly was. They started getting offers on the car the first time they drove it after it was painted, but so far nobody on the street had offered anything near what they wanted. They had put a total of almost thirty thousand into the car and were hoping to get fifty, which was reasonable compared to similarly restored cars.Dom had joked a few times that they would just keep it if nobody wanted to give them the fifty grand, and the rest of the family didn't mind the idea even though the parking area next to the garage's office was starting to get pretty crowded. They would have a lot more room when the garage Tej was having built on the other side of the main bay was finished, but until then they were often forced to move a car to get another one out of the lot. The El Camino was fast and agile enough to be fun to drive and had the advantage of a pickup bed in the back, which made it handy for parts runs. The gas mileage was kind of sad, but the ride was so much better than the garage's pickup that they didn't really care.Brian and Dom had been driving the El Camino off and on since they finished it a few weeks earlier, mostly hoping someone would make them some outrageous offer for it like people so often did with their Mustang. It was hard to get any really high offers on her from random people on the street, though, so they decided eventually to race her a little, show off what she could do.They had pretty much run out of people to race against in their usual crowd, and the El Camino couldn't really compete on that level anyway because she was all stock, so they decided during dinner one night to broaden their horizons a little. Brian had always avoided the classic American muscle car scene in Miami, which seldom had anything to do with the mostly import crowd that they were part of, but he knew where to find it. They went by the garage after dinner to pick up the Mustang just in case they got lucky and sold the El Camino, and then Brian led the way to a mall on the other side of Little Havana where the muscle car crowd liked to gather to show off their cars and do a little racing.The Mustang had drawn a lot of attention when Brian drove her slowly down the line of cars, her big engine rumbling and her flawless paint shimmering under the lights overhead. Brian hadn't raced against most of the people there before, but that didn't mean that they didn't recognize the Mustang that Brian and Dom both loved like she was the third person in their relationship. Everyone in town who was into fast cars knew who drove their distinctive silver beauty. Few in the Miami car community outside the import crowd they ran with had cared when 'Bullitt' suddenly got a new very talented shadow who had won the California Race Wars three times, but it had been hot gossip when they got married.Brian and Dom parked the Mustang and the El Camino together at the far end of the line of muscle cars and then locked them up to walk along the line of cars gathered there under the lights. It was too early in the evening for them to find any races yet anyway, so they might as well go have a look at the competition. The El Camino and the Mustang both had 'DBT Customs' business cards on the dash so if anyone wanted to talk to them about the cars, they could call Dom. Brian's cell phone was somewhere he wasn't, as usual, which was why their cards all had just Dom's number on them. Everyone who knew Brian knew to call Dom's cell if they really wanted to talk to him anyway.Dom and Brian were walking slowly along the line talking quietly about various cars when they heard a big engine roar to life behind them on the next row over that made them both stop in their tracks. They turned around to look but didn't see anything so they started walking towards the sound, oblivious to a few people nearby who were watching them with surprise and amusement. Dom and Brian had moved together without even looking at each other, completely in agreement without needing to say a word.They crossed to the next row and then walked quickly along it until they spotted an ice blue metallic Hemi 'Cuda that was still being revved up. It sounded like sex on wheels and as they walked towards it the driver glanced at them, then did a double-take and stared at Brian like he was seeing a ghost. He was completely ignoring the older man standing next to the 'Cuda, still absently revving the engine up loud as he stared at Brian, his surprise starting to fade into a pained, worried look."Looks like he's not happy to see you, baby," Dom murmured, amused.Brian laughed, giving Dom a slightly sheepish look. "Yeah, he wouldn't be. Remember that Yenko Camaro I told you about that I crashed onto the yacht?" Dom nodded, surprised, and Brian admitted, "I won the Camaro from that guy a couple days before that. His name's Frank Korpi, but everyone just calls him Korpi. He was buddies then with this guy named Benny Darden who owed Tej for a bad check on some custom engine work Darden conned Jimmy into doing for him on his Challenger. Rome and I needed some muscle in a hurry, cars that we wouldn't mind losing, so Tej set Darden up to race us for pinks and Korpi kind of got caught in the crossfire because they were running buddies. Korpi brought sixty thousand in cash when he brought me the title about a week later, wanting me to sell the Camaro back to him, and he was devastated when I had to tell him it had been totaled. I had thought it was just one of the classics he restored to sell because he was willing to risk it on a race, but it turned out it was his baby. He'd had it since he was sixteen and he usually didn't risk it, but he thought the little Mitsubishis Rome and I were driving couldn't possibly beat two modified big-block muscle cars. It was really close even with me and Rome both using Nos, but I pulled it out at the very end, beat him by only a couple feet.""Damn," Dom murmured. He could easily imagine how the guy had felt, losing his car so unexpectedly and then just a few days later being told Brian had already destroyed it. "No wonder he's looking at you like that.""Yeah." Brian reached for Dom's left hand without thinking about it as he started walking towards Korpi again, and Dom followed him without protest. They often held hands or touched each other while they were walking together, even though it sometimes drew unwanted attention. They had decided early on not to change anything about how they acted for anyone but themselves, and they both enjoyed being able to feel that they were together. "I still feel kind of like I owe him, even though the race was fair," Brian murmured after a moment.The older guy standing by the 'Cuda raised his voice then, saying a little sharply, "Korpi!" From the way he was dressed it was obvious he wasn't hurting for money, and he looked to be in his fifties, maybe older. His suit pants were obviously expensive, as was the crisp white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves, and he wore a Rolex on his wrist and fancy Italian leather shoes. Dom would have been willing to bet cash he was a lawyer. He just had that look.Korpi stopped staring at Brian to look at the older guy, blinking and then looking sheepish as he let the 'Cuda's big engine fall idle. "Sorry Andrew, just saw someone I didn't expect to see around here." He glanced again towards Brian and Dom, who had stopped nearby, then visibly gathered his scattered wits as he looked back at Andrew. "So anyway, like I was saying, I know the guy who bought her new and he kept her in a garage unless he was racing her. She runs perfect, all original equipment with every factory performance option and less than fifty thousand miles on her. I took her in trade on that Superbird show car I inherited from my uncle, and I know you've been looking for a Hemi 'Cuda for your collection, so I wanted to give you first chance at her.""What are you asking for her?" Andrew asked, trying to hide how interested he was but failing miserably."One with a lot higher mileage just sold on Autotrader for ninety," Korpi replied, turning the 'Cuda off. He got out of the car to stand by it with Andrew, closing the driver's door before he added, "Since we're buddies I could let you have her for seventy-five, but I can't go any lower than that.""Seventy-five is a steal on this even if it's not original," Dom said, surprised. Korpi and Andrew both looked at him and Dom added, "I could get you over a hundred grand on her easy. I'd just need to get in touch with a guy I know. He'd be all over it, he's been looking for a low mileage '70 Hemi 'Cuda for years. He had one he loved right up until it was stolen and he's had me keeping an eye out for another one ever since.""And you are?" Andrew said, frowning slightly and obviously annoyed.Dom moved a step closer to offer Andrew his right hand. He waited for Andrew to reach out to take it before he said easily, "Dominic Toretto.""Andrew Williamson." Andrew shook Dom's hand and then looked at Brian, asking, "Aren't you that guy who works for Parker, the one with the silver Mustang? Bullitt?"Brian grinned. "Name's Brian Toretto, but yeah, people call me Bullitt." He let go of Dom's left hand to offer Andrew his hand, shaking hands with him. "Dom and I both drive the Mustang, though.""She and the El Camino we just rebuilt are parked down at that end of the line," Dom added, gesturing towards the way they came from. "We're both high performance technicians specializing in speed and agility, according to our boss.""Y'know, grease monkeys," Brian said, grinning.Andrew laughed, a little surprised.Dom's lips twitched as he glanced at Brian and held back a laugh, then he looked back at Andrew. "We take a break from our day jobs as mechanics by restoring classics in our free time. We only do a few a year, but that's because we don't let them go until we get them perfect.""Why are you even here?" Korpi asked, ignoring Dom to frown slightly at Brian. "This isn't your scene, O'Connor.""It's Toretto now, Korpi, has been since May," Brian corrected. "And we just finished a '70 El Camino 454 SS that we'd like to run a few times, see how she does. We took her back to factory specs so we decided to check out the scene over here, see if we couldn't find a race or two for her against something in her weight class."Korpi looked skeptical. "So you're not just looking for another car to destroy?""C'mon, I told you I never would have taken your Camaro if I knew you'd had her since high school," Brian said quickly, a little pained. "Darden was the one Tej was pissed at, you just got caught in the middle."Andrew winced. "You're the kid who won his Yenko and then totaled her the next day?""Yeah, that was me," Brian agreed with a sigh. "It's a long story. A friend of a friend of my dad's got in with a really bad crowd, and I got dragged into it to help get her out. I wrecked the Camaro doing it, nearly got myself and two of my best friends killed, but we got her back safe."Korpi stared at Brian a moment, then said quietly, "That's why you and your buddy wanted in with Verone? You were the ones helping Monica?"Brian's eyebrows rose but he nodded. "Yeah. A friend of my dad's asked me to help so I brought in Rome to back me up and Tej called in some favors for us, and we all did what it took. Rome ended up breaking an arm and needing surgery, and Tej blew out his knee in a pretty major way and was wearing a brace for months, but it was worth it."Korpi just stared at Brian, still looking surprised as Andrew asked softly, "The same Monica you've been dating for the last several years, Korpi? The Customs agent?"Korpi glanced at Andrew. "Yeah." He looked at Brian again, adding quietly, "But I didn't know who got her out of the mess with Verone, just that it was a couple hotshot ex-con street racers the FBI brought in from the west coast."Brian smiled wryly. "Next time you see her, tell her Brian said hi.""She's walking down the line with Eddie," Korpi pointed out. "He was in on that too, they work together now.""Name's not familiar, sorry," Brian said. "I never met most of the people she works with, though, just Markham and Dunn. I wasn't really part of their team and Markham made sure I didn't know much about the Customs side of things."Korpi looked a little surprised. "Eddie's last name is Dunn. That's how Monica and I ended up getting together. She brought Eddie by my place after that mess was over with because he wanted to learn about classic muscle and she and I got to talking while Eddie was drooling over a '66 Corvette I had in to replace the wiring."Brian grinned. "Did he ever learn how to do more than turn the key?"Korpi laughed slightly. "Took him a while, but yeah. He's got a 'Vette of his own now I restored for him, a yellow '73 Stingray with the T-top and black interior. He's even raced her some." He smiled, adding, "He doesn't win much yet, but at least he's not embarrassing himself anymore.""Good for him," Brian said, smiling.Dom's phone suddenly started playing the simple ring that he still used for unknown contacts, so he quickly pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. "Hello."An unfamiliar woman's voice said, "Hello, I was trying to reach DBT Customs.""You got us, ma'am," Dom said, smiling as Brian moved closer to listen in. "I'm the D in DBT, name's Dom. What can I do for you?""I noticed your card on the dash of a friend's silver Mustang," the woman replied. "Do you know Brian?"Dom smirked and looked at Brian. "Yeah, I know Bri. I married him a few months ago."Brian laughed softly, giving Dom a fond look. Getting married hadn't been something they planned on at first, but Brian had eventually realized he wanted to make it official. Marriage hadn't really changed anything for them personally, their relationship was the same, but it made life a little easier for them to legally be each other's spouse and next of kin, giving them the right to take care of things for each other when they needed to. They still didn't want rings, which could be dangerous working on cars, so right after they got married they both had gotten a tattooed wedding band instead, an intricate Celtic pattern that included a simple stylized rose on the palm side that looked almost like a knot. Brian had gotten his done first, sure of exactly what he wanted, and Dom had liked the finished tattoo so much he got the same thing. They also each had a tattoo on their chest of a heart with the other's name in it that they had gotten right after Mia got married, and they had talked about getting something done for Mia and Vince's son Nicky too, but so far they hadn't figured out what.The woman on the phone sounded kind of surprised as she laughed and said, "Wow. Congratulations.""Thanks," Dom said easily. "Were you wanting to talk to Brian? He's right here, but I've got to warn you, if you're interested in our baby, the answer's no. The Mustang isn't for sale at any price.""Damn right she's not," Brian agreed with a laugh. "She's family."Dom winked at him, listening as the woman laughed again and said quickly, "No, I just saw his car and wanted to say hi. Where are you two?""We're standing by a sweet ice blue Hemi 'Cuda about halfway up the next row over from the Mustang," Dom replied, smiling. "We heard her start up a few minutes ago and had to see what it was sounding so sexy."The woman laughed. "I'll be there in a minute." She hung up without another word.Dom snorted, amused as he turned off his phone and pocketed it, looking at Brian. "She's going to find us.""Who?" Brian asked, amused."No clue, baby," Dom said with a laugh. "She didn't say, just that she knew you and wants to say hi.""Probably Monica," Brian said, still smiling and amused. "I don't know any other women who might be here except Rachel, and she's with Leon tonight."Dom laughed. "I thought he was done with her?"Leon and Rachel had been hooking up since they met, and every guy she got with agreed Rachel was talented at her favorite hobby, but Leon was finally getting tired of sharing his girl with half the guys he knew. It was nice getting laid anytime he wanted, sure, but he wanted something deeper that he knew he wasn't going to find with Rachel. She was very open about how many guys she slept with and the fact she didn't really care about any of them beyond how much fun she had while she was with them, and she had told Leon several times that he wasn't any different."He is, but Rachel said he could drive her 'Vette if he'd take her along when he goes out," Brian explained, amused. "She's afraid to drive it herself right now. She finally dumped that cop she was dating so he put the word out to his buddies about her suspended license for those unpaid parking tickets."Dom snickered, shaking his head. "That girl will never learn.""She doesn't even want to," Brian agreed. "Leon's planning on paying the tickets for her, but she owes like six hundred bucks and he's kinda enjoying driving her car."Dom laughed. "He does like that 'Vette. We need to find a nice one for him one of these days."Andrew looked at Korpi then, reaching out to pat his shoulder. "I'll get with you soon about the Hemi 'Cuda, let you know what I decide.""That's fine," Korpi agreed quickly. "I can't hold her for you, though. My aunt needs the money now , she's worried about losing her house.""I understand," Andrew said, nodding. "I have court first thing tomorrow and was planning to come by afterwards anyway to see how it's going with my Judge. I'll give you my decision then."Korpi smiled. "Sounds good. See you then."Andrew nodded and then glanced at Dom and Brian. "Nice meeting you." He didn't wait for them to reply before he started walking quickly away, heading further down the line.They were watching him go when a half-familiar voice said teasingly, "Long time no see, playboy."Brian turned towards the voice with a laugh to see Monica standing there smirking at him. "You know that was never even a little bit accurate about me, right?"Monica smirked a little more smugly. "I got your attention, didn't I?""Well, if annoying me was your plan, then yeah," Brian pointed out with a grin, making her laugh. He turned to put his hand on Dom's back, looking at him and then at Monica as he said easily, "Monica, this is my husband, Dominic Toretto. I'm sure you read enough about him in my file before it got wiped to know who he is.""I did," Monica said with a surprised little laugh, offering Dom her hand. "Nice to meet you. Brian and I worked together a few years back.""I know," Dom replied, shaking her hand and then looking at Brian as he smiled a little wider. "I see what you meant about her reminding you of Letty."Brian laughed. "It's not just me then.""Definitely not," Dom said, smirking slightly as he looked at Monica. "So when you met Rome, was it instant attraction or hate at first sight?"Monica laughed. "He hated me, but I think it was mostly that he thought I was trespassing on his turf." She looked at Brian, adding teasingly, "Though I wasn't the only one. Brian had a friend then that Rome hated, too."Dom looked curiously at Brian, who explained, "Monica decided to sneak into the boat one morning at the ass crack of dawn and then Rome followed her in to tell me the goons who were her keepers were snooping around the garage, so they both got an eyeful of me and Tej climbing out of bed. Rome was still all screwed up then and didn't want anyone touching me, not even him, so he kind of wanted to kill Tej even before I had the bright idea to throw off Monica's keepers by playing up the gay thing." Dom snickered and shook his head. "Yeah, Rome was not thrilled that morning, but he behaved himself pretty well. I was proud of him, nobody got hit." Brian looked back at Monica then as he added with a little smirk, "And while Rome went back outside to handle the goons, Monica tried hitting on me right in front of Tej, like that was going to happen about a minute after we climbed out of bed together."Monica laughed, blushing. "I did not! You were imagining that.""Uh-huh, sure," Brian said, smirking as she blushed even more. "Tej imagined it too, then. He thought it was hilarious."Dom snickered. "You're just that irresistible, baby. If she saw you naked I'm sure it was all she could do not to tackle you."Brian laughed, but he blushed a little too. "Naw, I looked like ten miles of bad road then.""You never did tell me who beat you up," Monica said, trying to change the subject off of herself. "You looked like you had gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson using you as a punching bag.""I got up in Rome's face a couple days before that and pissed him off on purpose," Brian admitted. "It was worth it, I got him to talk to me. He had been avoiding me for years, but I couldn't have handled that run without him. I needed him watching my back, even if he was pissed at me half the time."Monica shook her head, smiling. "You really do need a keeper, Brian.""He's got one," Dom said dryly, amused by the way Monica looked at him in surprise. "We even made it official."Brian looked at Dom, grinning. "Things would have gone very different during the Verone thing if I had you watching my back.""They sure would, starting with you never getting into that mess," Dom said easily, amused. "Leon and I would have handled it."Brian laughed. "Markham thought I was difficult, and I'm pretty sure he just wanted to shoot Rome. You would have given him an aneurysm. He didn't trust us and kept threatening to lock us both up and throw away the key if we didn't do exactly what he told us to do." He grinned. "And we didn't, but Bilkins was on my side. Markham kept telling us to do stupid shit that would have got us killed so I stopped listening to him and we just did the job.""So he's an idiot, in other words," Dom said, trying not to laugh."About that kind of job, yeah," Brian agreed. "He shouldn't have been in it at all. He kept expecting us to do stuff that would have ended with bodies everywhere.""Markham is a handler and good at it," Monica said, a little amused. "He was just way out of his depth trying to run such an important field operation, and he refused to step aside because he knew getting Verone would get him a promotion. He had just gotten married and was still paying alimony to the first wife, and he wanted that pay raise bad." She giggled slightly. "It didn't really help, though. Wife number two just spent even more and he was still always broke. They didn't last long and he ended up selling his house to hire a better lawyer that got him out of paying alimony to either ex wife. Now he's got a place in Coconut Grove with an ugly little bulldog he named Wife and he's a lot happier."Brian laughed as Dom said dryly, "I never understood that kind of thing." Monica looked at him, surprised and curious, and he explained, "People get married way too fast, then divorce and do it again like it's a game. They don't ever really mean their vows.""And you did?" Monica asked, still looking a little surprised."Every word," Dom said with a smile. He looked at Brian, reaching out, and Brian took Dom's hand to tangle their fingers together, smiling. "Until death do us part."Brian squeezed Dom's hand, smiling wider. "Ride or die."Dom laughed. "You've been hanging out with Letty and Rome too much."Brian grinned. "There's worse things I could do." He smirked. "I'm still waiting for them to notice it's been a year and they're still together."Dom snickered. "According to Letty, the couple that plays together, stays together.""Yeah, Rome says it too," Brian agreed, still grinning. "I don't get the whole swinging thing, but whatever makes them happy.""You're just too much like me, baby," Dom said, amused. "You don't even think about anyone else. That's why the family says we're the kings of monogamy."Monica giggled. "That's cute.""Why would I want anyone else?" Brian asked easily. "You own me, says so right here." He lifted his free hand to touch where the tattoo was on the left side of his chest.Dom smirked. "Lucky me." He stepped closer to Brian and kissed him lovingly.Monica watched interestedly until they pulled apart, smirking as she said, "I'm glad you found him again, Brian." Brian and Dom both looked at her, surprised, and Monica added, "After I got to know you it never made sense to me that you gave your mark your keys, but I can see why now." She met Dom's gaze. "I'm guessing you didn't know he took the fall for you.""Had no idea," Dom agreed softly, looking at Brian. "He told me to go and that he'd be fine, and I believed him. I didn't find out he lied to me for months.""I was sure I could handle it right up until I watched you driving away," Brian said, smiling crookedly. "Then I was standing there listening to the sirens get closer and I kinda lost it a little. I told the first cops on the scene to arrest me and then confessed to everything I could think of to distract them long enough for you to get to Mexico.""You idiot," Monica said, giving Brian a bemused look. "That's why you did time?""Yeah," Brian admitted. "I didn't even do what they convicted me of. Bilkins tried hard to get me out of it, told the judge that it was all on his orders and I was too young and stupid not to do what he said, but they had me on tape confessing and Dom got away so they wanted to make an example of me." He smiled wryly. "Judges don't much like rookie cops who flip on their first solo assignment, especially one with a record for boosting cars as a kid.""You really were a cop?" Korpi asked suddenly, making them all remember he was still standing there. He was leaning against the side of the 'Cuda, watching Brian with a slightly surprised expression. "Like, badge and all?"Brian nodded. "My dad's a homicide detective, and after I wrecked my first car and nearly died he talked me into giving up racing and going into the Academy." He smiled wryly. "It wasn't my thing, but I tried to make it work because I wanted Dad to be proud of me for a change. I earned my badge and was on graveyard patrol for only a few months before I bought an Eclipse with a seized up engine from another rookie for a few hundred bucks. I got it running pretty easy and found out it was fast, and then it wasn't long before I was thinking about racing again. I started hanging out with the street racing crowd and then stumbled into the middle of a big case Dad was working with the FBI, so they put me undercover. It took me screwing it up in a major way and doing a year in Chino for Dad to realize I really am just a grease monkey that likes driving fast."Korpi looked amused and a little wry at that. "You're one of the top street racers I've seen, kid. There's no way you should have beaten me, but you made it happen anyway. Not many can do that."Brian grinned, surprised but happy. "Thanks, I know you're one of the best in town, so that means a lot." He smiled wryly. "But Dad, he thinks I'm going to grow out of racing one of these days. Twenty-five didn't slow me down any, but he's still holding out hope for thirty.""I hope he's not holding his breath," Korpi said with a little snort. "I'm near fifty and I still race all the time." He smirked slightly. "And I don't lose often.""Yeah, Brian will still love going fast when he's eighty," Dom said, amused. "His dad is just deep in denial. Rick drives like a grandma and doesn't really get the whole going fast thing.""Brian was born to race," Korpi said, smiling wryly at Dom. "He's fearless, and he can make a car damn near fly."Monica laughed. "I've seen him make one actually fly." She looked at Korpi, giving him a sheepish little smile. "She just didn't survive the landing.""I never saw what he did to her," Korpi said quickly, "and I don't want to know.""You really don't," Brian agreed. "I tried to get her back after you told me what she meant to you, but once they got her off the boat I could see there was no prayer she'd be drivable again."Korpi stared at Brian as he repeated, "Off the boat?"Brian winced. "Yeah, a yacht. It was a really crazy day.""How did--" Korpi started, then broke off and shook his head. "Wait, no. Never mind.""If there had been any chance, I would have brought her back for you," Brian said quickly. "I felt so bad after you told me about her, but some things even me and Jimmy can't fix.""I believe it, kid," Korpi said quietly, wry and a little sad. "I still miss her, but you had no way to know. When you won her, I should have told you right then that she was the last thing my dad and I restored together before he died.""That's rough," Dom murmured, thinking about his dad's Charger. She was still registered to his dad when he rolled her and he didn't know what happened to her after he ran. He had asked Rick but Rick barely even knew what he was talking about, and Brian had thought Mia ended up with it. Mia said she never saw the car again after it left the yard that day, not that she didn't know what happened to it, but Dom couldn't get anything else out of her. He figured she probably sold the car for scrap without ever even looking to see if the Charger was salvageable, which was a damn shame. The car wasn't running when he had to abandon it, but he was pretty sure he could have fixed her if he got the chance."I would have never risked your Camaro if I knew that," Brian said sadly. "I just needed something with some power that was tough enough to take a beating if it had to and ready to outrun whoever I had to get away from. I would have been fine with something like that GTO you were driving the day you came by with the title.""Live and learn," Korpi said, smiling crookedly. "I'm never gonna risk another car I don't want to lose on a race, especially against some kid in an ugly little rice burner.""That Evo was hideous," Brian agreed. "I couldn't wait to get done with it. I wouldn't have cared if I totaled it, but if I had been driving it that day there's no way it would have gotten me and Rome on that yacht. Verone would have killed Monica and gotten away and then Rome and I would have ended up having to make a run for Belize because Markham was going to pin everything he could think of on us if we didn't get her back. The Evo was way too light to make the jump I had to make. Even if I got it to top speed and hit both shots of Nos, it wouldn't have had the momentum to make it fly a hundred yards."Korpi's eyes widened. "You got my car to fly a hundred yards?""About that, yeah," Brian admitted, sheepish. "I couldn't think of any other way to get on that yacht with it screaming off down a canal at top speed. Rome started cussing me after he figured out what I had in mind, but he thought I could do it so I went for it." He let out a little huff of a laugh. "Rome started me on making cars fly when I was fourteen, though never that far or that high. We did all kinds of crazy shit when we were boosting cars back then. He used to joke about me being a pilot for Redneck Air someday because I could put a car over a drainage ditch or embankment and just keep right on going."Korpi just stared at Brian, speechless."Being able to make that jump onto the yacht with no planning in a car you barely knew proved you're one of the best drivers alive, Brian," Monica pointed out suddenly, making Brian look at her in surprise. "You could also be an excellent field agent if you wanted to be, though."Brian shook his head. "Maybe it looked that way to you, but I never would have survived that thing with Verone if not for Tej and Rome helping me keep it together." He hesitated slightly and then admitted, "Mostly Tej. Rome was there to drive with me and watch my back when shit got real, but Tej was the one who kept my head on straight so I was thinking instead of reacting. There was a lot I had to do that I only got through because I knew Tej was a call away and he'd do anything he had to do to keep me safe.""Any good agent has a handler though, that kind of thing is their job," Monica pointed out. "And you were very good, Bilkins still sings your praises. I just talked to him recently and he said something about you riding in out of nowhere last year and breaking a case wide open for him with like thirty minutes of work, putting him on the road to taking out some major west coast players."Brian and Dom looked at each other and laughed. "That's not what I did at all," Brian said, looking back at Monica and trying not to laugh again. "It was Dom who broke that case open, I just had lunch.""Seriously?" Monica asked, surprised.Brian nodded, grinning. "Yeah, I ate the best fajitas in L.A. and watched Dom handle it. He wouldn't have let me get dragged into that case even if I wanted to, which I didn't." He gave Dom a fond look then, adding, "I'm not allowed to work for Bilkins anymore.""Damn right you're not," Dom agreed, smirking slightly at Brian. "If you try, I'll tie you up and haul you off to my beach in Sonora so fast your head will spin." His smirk widened. "I'm sure Tej can find me a plane and a pilot who wouldn't ask questions."Brian laughed. "He probably has half a dozen emergency escape plans ready, knowing him."Monica laughed. "I know you weren't a cop, Dom, so how'd you break the case open so fast for Bilkins?""A guy I knew was in the middle of it," Dom replied, amused. "We stopped for lunch at his wife's restaurant and he thought we were there after him because he owed my sister some money. We got to talking and he told me a little of what was going on with him, and I told him to man up and do the right thing for once in his life. I took his gun away and made him talk to Bilkins, but I don't really know anything about the case after that." He paused slightly. "Well, I know Hector got through it without doing time, and he said Bilkins was happy with how it went down, but no specifics. I didn't want to know, I just wanted him to stop doing stupid shit before he got someone killed. He had that cartel shooting up his garage and threatening his family and that just wasn't gonna work. His wife is one of my baby sister's best friends and his kids call me Tio Dom, so I had to do something after we stumbled into the middle of it."Monica stared at Dom a moment and then looked at Brian, amused. "He sounds just like you, wandering into trouble and then doing whatever it takes to get the job done and get everyone out alive."Brian laughed. "Dom and I are a lot alike. We got each other right from the start, it just took us a few years to do anything about it.""It wouldn't have if we didn't end up in different countries," Dom said dryly. "I still think I should have pulled you into the Supra with me that day, stole you away to Mexico with me." He grinned. "You'd look good all stretched out on my beach in sunglasses and a smile.""It definitely would have changed our world," Brian agreed with a laugh, blushing a bit. "Maybe for the better, but maybe not, too. I still don't regret what I did.""I regret you doing time for me," Dom murmured, suddenly more serious."It was worth it," Brian said softly. "It got me here and I love our life. If I hadn't ever gone to Chino, who knows what else it would change?" He smiled. "Didn't you learn anything from 'Back To The Future' ?"Dom smiled too, amused despite how sad it always made him to think about Brian in Chino. "Yeah, actually I did. Never drive a DeLorean, they're nothing but trouble."Brian and Monica both laughed at that as Korpi said dryly, "They're also ugly as sin, and when it rains they leak like a screen door on a submarine."Dom grinned at Korpi. "That too." ~*~*~ Dom ended up helping Korpi sell the Hemi 'Cuda for a hundred and ten grand, and in return Korpi made a few calls and put them in touch with someone that was in the market for a restored El Camino. Dom and Brian made a deal to take just forty grand for her, ten less than they wanted, but they got an old Camaro in the deal as partial trade that had the potential to be worth much more than the El Camino was.The Camaro was a '67 Super Stock Rally Sport model that had been parked in a barn near Ocala for so long nobody even knew how it got there. It was registered to the property owner's grandmother but she insisted she had never seen the car before in her life. Regardless of who had really owned it in the past, the Camaro had only around eighty thousand miles on the odometer and was in surprisingly good shape. The body had no major dents and the car still had all of the original parts including the 396 V8 engine, though almost nothing worked. The frame was solid and straight, if a bit rusty, and taking it in trade saved Brian and Dom the effort of hunting down another project car so they were pretty pleased with the deal.Life settled back into their usual routine once the Camaro was parked next to the Mustang in their bay in the garage, though Brian and Dom started spending a few nights a month with the muscle car crowd. Even Tej couldn't get races for either of them anymore with the import street racers Brian and Tej had been running with for so long, but there was usually someone in the muscle car scene willing to give them a run for their money if they disabled the Nos system in the Mustang. There was no telling if they would end up running for five hundred or five thousand or even just for the fun of it, but Brian and Dom didn't really care too much about the money. They were just glad to be racing someone besides each other.Days seemed to fly by, as they often did for Brian when he was busy and happy, and it seemed like no time before they had the Camaro well on the way to being restored. They had finished most of the body work already because they could do that while they were trying to soak seized parts loose to get them working again, and looking under the hood didn't make either of them want to cringe anymore. Everything was clean and most of it was working, though the rebuilt engine was still on a stand and the carburetor was spread out on the work bench in pieces, waiting for them to receive another one from the same year so they could replace half a dozen parts that didn't survive being disassembled and cleaned.That particular night Dom was working on the transmission, patiently cleaning each piece and often setting aside the more stubborn ones to soak in a small tub of naphtha while he worked on something else. The transmission fluid had nearly dried up, it had been sitting so long, which left everything in it gummed up to one extent or another. Other than the old fluid residue it actually seemed to be in good shape so far, but he wasn't going to get his hopes up about it until everything was cleaned, lubed, and reassembled and he was sure it would work.Brian was in the car up under the dash replacing the wiring, which was boring but easy and had to be done before he could start trying to determine if the gauges were still good or would need replaced. They had pulled everything out of the interior already to clear out an infestation of fire ants, so he had plenty of room to sprawl on his back in the floor between the brackets for the driver's seat while he worked, his long legs stretched out where the back seat used to be. He had his head and shoulder halfway up into the dash with a small flashlight in his mouth, directing it with the ease of long practice to light up a particularly tight spot next to the steering column so he could see one of the wiring brackets. The screw was stripped and it was in a spot that was nearly impossible to get to without pulling the whole steering column, which he didn't want to do, so Brian was carefully twisting the screw out with a pair of needle nose pliers a quarter turn at a time. It was slow and kind of annoying because he had to keep a grip on the screw and put leverage on it at the same time to work it out of the stripped out hole, which was in a very narrow area with little access, but he was making it work.The screw had just fallen out to land on Brian's forehead and roll off into his hair when Dom's phone began to play a cheerful tune. 'It starts in my toes and I crinkle my nose, wherever it goes, I always know.' "Baby, can you get that?" Dom asked.Brian took the flashlight out of his mouth quickly, starting to wriggle out from under the dash as he said, "Sure."
'You make me smile, please stay for a while, now just take your time, wherever you go.'
Brian climbed out of the Camaro to walk quickly towards the workbench, where the song was repeating. "I wonder what Kali wants?""Answer and find out," Dom replied, glancing at Brian with a smirk."Smartass," Brian said, smiling as he picked up the phone and answered it. "Hey Kali.""Sorry to bug you while you're busy, sweetie," Kali said quickly, sounding kind of sheepish. "I know it's playtime for you and Dom. You were probably elbow deep in that tranny by now."Brian laughed. "Nah, I was wedged in under the dash. Dom is elbow deep in the transmission." Dom snorted, amused. "Whatcha need?""My car is being a pain in the ass again," Kali replied, amused. "The battery is stone dead and Jimmy's not answering his phone and neither is Leon, so you're it."Brian laughed. "Jimmy's with Leon." He reached for his new phone with his free hand, unplugging the charge cable and then tucking it into his pocket as he added, "They left a couple hours ago to go for steaks, but there's no telling where they ended up after. They ran out of cars to play with and Leon said something about finding a bar." He started towards Dom, who was watching interestedly. "Where are you?""At Aunt Julia's still," Kali said, sounding a little sheepish. "Her son is sick and she couldn't find anyone else to lock up for her tonight, the cook and waitress on the night shift are both new.""That's not far, I can be there in a few minutes," Brian said as he stopped by Dom."Thank you, sweetie," Kali said quickly, pleased. "I really appreciate it.""Anytime, sis," Brian replied. "Lock yourself in your car until I get there. I won't be long, but that's a rough part of town this late at night.""I will, I promise," Kali agreed. "See you then."Kali hung up and Brian turned off Dom's phone, smiling as he explained, "Kali's car won't start again, and she's at her aunt's diner over on Twentieth near Chavez' place. I'm going to go bring her back here, then see what it is this time.""I can tell you what's wrong from here," Dom said, amused by the way Brian didn't even ask before he slipped the phone into Dom's shirt pocket. "It's still a '93 BMW."Brian grinned. "I know. She's trying to sell it, but every time someone looks at it they find something else that isn't working.""Sounds about right," Dom said with a soft chuckle. "You sure you're gonna be okay going alone?"Brian smiled. "I'll be fine, it's just a few miles. She thinks the battery is dead, so it's likely just the electrical shorted out and drained it again. Once I give her a jump it'll prob'ly start, but if not I have a tow strap.""Alright, baby," Dom said easily. "I want you armed, though.""Promise," Brian agreed, smiling as he leaned to kiss Dom. He didn't often go anywhere alone, but when he did Dom always asked him to carry even if he was just making a run to the grocery store. Dom had said several times he would rather have Brian packing a gun he didn't need than get a call telling him he had lost the love of his life, and Brian couldn't argue. He felt the same way, though he knew Dom could take care of himself a lot better than Brian could. "I'll be back soon.""I'll be here, baby." Dom looked down to pick up another gear and the stiff bristle brush he was using to clean them, going back to work.Brian moved quickly towards the Mustang and a few moments later he was pulling out through the main bay towards the road. He turned to the right, driving quickly on the deserted street as he went a couple blocks east to get on Fourteenth Avenue heading north. He hadn't been kidding when he told Kali she was in a bad part of town, her aunt's diner was on a street frequented by hookers and drug dealers, but he still wouldn't have carried a gun if Dom didn't tell him to. He just didn't like them and he hadn't run into trouble in years so he avoided them unless Dom asked him to carry.There was a gun safe in their bay of the garage now, hidden under a work bench, but they kept their preferred handguns in the Mustang in case they needed them in a hurry. He hit a red light right after he got on Fourteenth and leaned over to reach under the driver's seat for his little Ruger nine millimeter, leaving Dom's larger Glock where it was. The light changed then and he started driving again with the gun in his lap, waiting until he hit another red light before he looked down, double-checking that the safety was on and that his compact little semi-automatic was fully loaded and ready to fire. He tucked it into the waistband of his jeans against his belly and then continued on to Twentieth, turning left to head towards Chavez' place. During the day he would have hid it under his work shirt in the back, but it was late and so dark that he didn't see a reason to bother. If he did need it, he could get it faster against his stomach.There was only one diner on the block after Chavez' place, up on the left next to the intersection, and Brian could see Kali's little BMW well before he got there. She had parked out front by a row of bushes along the side of the diner parking lot and when Brian got closer he could see she was sitting in the driver's seat, looking down with her face lit up by the screen of her phone. There was very little traffic on the street so late at night so Brian didn't have to wait to cross it towards the diner, and a few moments later he had parked the Mustang next to her and popped the hood.Kali opened her door and got out, giving him a sheepish smile. "I really appreciate this, Bri.""No problem," Brian said easily as he got out, leaving the Mustang running. "You still got your jumper cables behind the seat?""Yeah, I do," Kali said, turning back to her car. "Jimmy already had to jump it three times this week, and this time it's so dead even the interior lights won't come on. He said he's going to try to find the problem Sunday morning since it'll likely take him all day, but it's only Thursday, so..."Brian tried not to laugh as he moved towards the front of the Mustang. "Pop the hood while you're in there."Kali pulled the hood release in the BMW, making it pop up with a thump while Brian reached under the edge of the Mustang's hood to trip the latch. He was opening it a moment later as Kali brought him her jumper cables. "Thanks," he murmured, taking one end of the cables to clamp them on the terminals of the battery. He moved to untangle the cables and stretch them out towards the BMW then, giving Kali a smile as he said teasingly, "You know the drill, sis."Kali laughed and moved quickly towards the driver's door of the Mustang. "Too well! When the guys I know can't find the problem, it's past time to just get rid of it. I'm about ready to pawn this piece of junk and have you guys find me an old Mustang." She settled into the Mustang's driver's seat as she added, "I love your baby."Brian laughed, draping the jumper cables over his arm as he reached under the BMW's hood to trip the latch. "We could, they're not that hard to find and a lot more reliable than this piece of scheisse."Kali giggled. Jimmy had declared her car the finest example of German scheisse he'd ever seen the very first time he worked on it, but she hadn't known that wasn't a compliment for months. Letty had finally been the one to tell her scheisse was the German word for shit, a common nickname for 3-series BMWs from the early nineties among mechanics because of the electrical systems, among other things. The cars were infamous for spontaneously developing electrical problems and blowing water pumps even if they were hardly ever driven. Since Kali drove hers every day and liked to go fast, her car only stopped giving her trouble when it just wasn't running at all. "Anything is more reliable than it is.""Yeah, I'm not arguing with that," Brian agreed with a grin. He lifted the BMW's hood then, blocking his view of Kali, and when he looked down it took him a moment to realize what he was seeing in the dark shadows under the hood. The battery cables had both been pulled off the terminals and were laying loose on top of the battery.Brian heard the bark of a gun then and felt a bullet slam into him low on his left shoulder blade, turning him halfway around to face towards the Mustang as he heard Kali scream. He didn't fight his momentum at all and let himself go boneless as he fell to the ground, landing on his stomach with his right hand close to his gun, his cheek and forehead bouncing painfully on the concrete and dazing him a little. He heard someone move out of the bushes a few feet away, shoes loud on the concrete, and then a gun went off again twice in quick succession, glass breaking as Kali screamed again.The man standing over Brian stepped towards the Mustang as he shot again, breaking more glass while Kali shrieked, and Brian rolled towards the BMW onto his left side to free his gun and his right arm even though it caused his whole left side of his chest to scream with stabbing pain. He ended up half under the car on his back as he raised his gun and instinctively aimed for center mass, shooting the man standing over him twice just as fast as he could pull the trigger even though he couldn't make out anything but a vague shadowy shape. The man dropped to the concrete, still moving slightly, and Brian recognized him just before he shot once more to be safe, hitting the man in the side of the head and splattering brains and blood all over the nearby bushes.Brian let his head fall back to the concrete and just stared up at the BMW's bumper a moment, trying not to scream. The feel of broken ribs was way too familiar, but this time was worse than he'd ever done it before. He realized he could still hear the Mustang idling and called, "Kali! You okay?""Yeah," Kali replied, but she sounded shaky and scared. "Is he dead?""Very," Brian replied. He tried to move out from under the car, letting out a pained cry at the agony it triggered in his back and chest when he shifted his left arm.Kali reached Brian then, falling to her knees next to him as she said, "Oh God, Brian. You're covered in blood.""Call 911," Brian said, very carefully moving his right hand across his body towards Kali to put the gun down next to his left shoulder. "Don't touch that unless someone else starts shooting. Safety is off." If she did need it, he knew there was no prayer she'd know how to take the safety off. Kali hated guns and wouldn't even play combat-based video games. Her older brother had died in Afghanistan when she was twelve and she blamed it on the gun that shot him.Kali was already talking on the phone. "Yes ma'am, I need help, now! My friend Brian Toretto was just shot by some guy! We're at the corner of Fifteenth Avenue and Twentieth Street, and he's bleeding everywhere."Brian's left arm and shoulder were screaming with pain and he tried to shift it a little, whimpering at how it made the left side of his chest hurt, and he finally recognized the deep stabbing, burning pain and the way his chest was starting to feel tight. He'd felt it just once before, but that time he nearly died and was in the infirmary for weeks."Brian, be still," Kali said quickly, crying as she stared down at him, looking terrified."Tell her I have a through shot from behind, left chest," Brian said carefully, holding very still and trying not to think about how lightheaded he was starting to feel. Breathing was an effort and he knew that his left lung was starting to collapse, but he fought to stay calm and still. Moving around with his ribs shattered would just do more damage, maybe even kill him. "It broke some ribs, and I have a punctured lung.""He says to tell you it's a through shot from behind, left chest," Kali repeated as she grabbed Brian's right hand to hold on tight. "He's got broken ribs and a punctured lung." She sniffed hard, then added, "He's bleeding really bad. Tell them to hurry."Brian heard sirens approaching as he murmured, "Kali, when you see Dom, tell him I love him and to take care of Tej for me.""Stop that, Brian," Kali said quickly, her voice thick with tears. "You're going to be fine, just hold on. She says the ambulance is nearly here.""Promise me," Brian said more firmly even though the effort made his head swim.Kali leaned down to kiss his forehead, and Brian felt her tears on his face as she said, "I promise, but don't you dare give up on us, Brian!""Never," Brian whispered, and then everything went black. ~*~*~ Dom was driving way too fast when he reached the hospital, drifting the Supra through the turn into the parking lot and then heading straight for the Emergency entrance. He saw Rick's Jeep parked at the curb near the door then, the red police bubble still on the roof with the light spinning slowly, and he swerved towards it as he slammed on the brakes and reached for the emergency brake too, locking up the wheels and sliding sideways into the curb hard enough that it rocked the whole car hard, coming to a stop so close behind the Jeep that the Supra's nose was almost touching the bumper. He shut the Supra down and jumped out, running for the Emergency doors.Dom stopped just inside for a moment to look around until he spotted Rick and Kali standing together about fifty feet away down one hallway. Rick had his back to Dom, dressed like he usually did in one of his cheap tweed suits with cowboy boots. Kali had small cuts on her face and arms and her clothes were bloody, especially her jeans, which were nearly black with drying blood from the knee down.Dom ran towards them, dodging around a nurse that was hurrying the other way and waiting until he reached them to ask quietly, "Is he okay?"Rick turned to look at Dom, his face streaked with tears as he just shook his head.Dom felt suddenly light-headed as he dropped to his knees with a pained gasp, his eyes blurring with tears, and then Kali was on her knees in front of him hugging him and crying as she said quickly, "Dom, no, he's alive.""Oh thank God," Dom murmured, wrapping his arms around Kali with a quiet sob he couldn't quite keep down, hiding his face against her hair.Kali held on tight, her voice choked with tears as she said, "He's in surgery right now. The bullet broke his left shoulder blade and shattered at least one rib into his lung. The lung collapsed and he almost bled to death, but the EMTs kept him alive somehow until they could get him here and into surgery." She hesitated slightly and then added, "I left the Mustang with one of Rick's friends that got there just before the ambulance was ready to go. Mitchell said he'd take her home himself.""I left the garage wide open," Dom murmured, pulling back and moving one hand to wipe at his face as he fought to control himself. Normally they didn't let anyone but family drive the Mustang, and not even family often, but just then he didn't care. "Did you call Tej?""He and Suki are on the way," Kali murmured, shifting to sit on the floor against the wall between Dom and Rick. "They were in Islamorada so it'll be a while, even the way Suki drives.""Rome?" Dom asked, pulling out his phone and then moving to sit against the wall next to Kali with his knees pulled up in front of him. There was a door he hadn't noticed before across the hall with a sign at the top that said 'Trauma Center' and he had to fight to keep from falling apart again."He didn't answer," Kali said softly. "And I don't have Letty's new number."That didn't really surprise Dom. Letty and Kali got along alright, but everyone knew they weren't really friends and probably never would be. Rome really liked Kali, though not even close to how much he cared about Letty, and Letty saw her as competition even though everyone else could tell Rome was just friendly to Kali, not in love with her like he was with Letty. Rome didn't say he was in love with Letty, of course, but Brian was sure of it and he knew Rome's feelings better than Rome did a lot of the time.Dom unlocked his phone and tapped his contacts and then Letty's name, third on the list of favorites at the top. He put the phone to his ear, looking at Kali while he listened to it ring. "Did you get Leon or Jimmy?""I talked to Leon just before you got here," Kali replied. "They were up in Surfside at some bar called Flanigan's, but they're on the way."Letty finally answered, sounding breathless and annoyed as she said, "This better be important, Dom.""Brian's been shot," Dom replied, fighting to sound normal even though saying it made fresh tears spring to his eyes. He closed his eyes, wiping his face as he went on. "We're at University. He's in surgery and it doesn't sound good.""Shit!" Letty exclaimed, then the sound changed slightly and Dom heard her set the phone down. "You're on speaker, Dom. Rome, get your pants on, we gotta go. Brian's been shot.""What the fuck?!" Rome blurted out, sounding shocked. "By who?""I don't know," Dom said. "I was at the garage tearing down that transmission. Kali's battery died and he went to give her a jump.""It didn't die," Kali said, making Dom look at her in surprise. "The first cops on the scene said it looked like the guy who tried to kill us pulled the cables, used me as bait." She lifted her hand to wipe away a tear. "He shot Brian from the bushes and then when Brian fell he stepped out and started shooting at me. Brian got him while he was distracted, two bullets to the chest, one to the head." She sniffled. "I don't know why Bri had his gun tonight, but we'd probably both be dead if he didn't.""I told him to carry," Dom said quietly. "I know he hates it, but I don't like him out alone unless he's armed."Kali reached for Dom's hand to give it a squeeze. "You saved our lives.""Roberto Sanchez was one of Verone's men," Rick said, making Kali and Dom both look up at him in surprise. He had moved to lean against the wall and looked tired and sad, his eyes red and pained. "His cousin." He swallowed hard. "He got out on parole a few months back and was on house arrest until about a week ago, when he cut off his ankle bracelet and disappeared.""And nobody thought to warn us?!" Dom asked, scowling suddenly. "Verone just went to the chair because of Brian!"Rick leaned his head back against the wall as he looked up at the ceiling. "I didn't even know the guy was out until Mitchell called and told me Sanchez had just shot Brian and I better get here fast. I was supposed to be alerted if any of Verone's men got out, but it didn't happen.""We're leaving right now, Dom," Letty said then, making Dom remember he was on the phone. "It'll take us an hour, we're on a beach in Key Largo.""Forty minutes," Rome said firmly as Dom heard the Chevelle's familiar engine roar to life. "Less if people get out of my fuckin' way.""Be careful," Dom said firmly. "It won't help Bri any for you to get yourselves killed trying to get here.""Rome will be careful," Letty replied softly. "And Brian will be okay, Dom. You know how tough he is."Dom closed his eyes again, leaning back against the wall as he murmured, "I hope so. I couldn't take losing him.""You won't, Dom," Letty said firmly. "We'll be there soon.""Okay," Dom replied, then the line went dead and he thumbed the power button on his phone and just sat there staring at the opposite wall.Kali turned towards Dom after a few moments, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head on his shoulder. "He made me promise to tell you he loves you," she said quietly after a moment. "He wants you to take care of Tej for him."Dom fought down a sob, his eyes burning as he closed them tightly against more tears, covering Kali's hand on his chest to hold on to it. "He better not give up on us.""I told him the same thing," Kali said. "He said never."Dom couldn't speak, just sitting there silently crying next to Kali as he prayed for God not to take Brian from them. He eventually calmed and stopped crying but he didn't really notice it as he prayed, still holding Kali's hand while she cried herself to sleep sitting there leaning against him and the wall. He silently repeated the 'Hail Mary' novena three times to himself before he began the first of the prayers to Saint Anthony, asking for a miracle. His grandmother had taught him the nine prayers of the Saint Anthony novena when he was a little boy and insisted that it would always work unless God needed someone so badly even a Saint couldn't intervene. Dom had said the prayers faithfully next to his grandmother as a little boy for friends and neighbors and most of them had recovered. Even Saint Anthony couldn't help when Dom's mother was the one sick, though, and Dom had lost faith for a long time, avoiding setting foot inside a church and refusing to pray at all until he found himself in a desert in Mexico, far from Brian when he felt like Brian most needed him. He had gone to mass for the first time in over ten years a few days after Mia told him Brian was in Chino, and he had attended often afterwards to pray for Brian. They had been there waiting in silence for a long while when Rick's phone suddenly rang. "Yeah," Rick answered, listening a moment before he murmured, "Thanks, Mitchell." He looked down at Dom and said softly, "Dom, give me your keys. The Mustang is safe at home, Mitchell locked her up, but now we need to move the Supra.""Left them in the car," Dom murmured, trying not to wake Kali."The keys are in it, Mitchell," Rick said, reaching down to touch the top of Dom's head for a moment. "I'll be right back, son." Dom just nodded and then Rick started walking away towards the Emergency entrance. "Yeah, you get the Supra, I'll come move my Jeep. I have the keys anyway."Dom just sat there looking across the hall for a while after that, not really seeing it. He kept thinking about Brian and how strong he was and tried to convince himself that Brian could survive being shot just like he had survived being hurt so badly so many times in Chino. Brian was one of the toughest people Dom knew, though Brian didn't believe it, and Dom found himself praying Brian would find the strength to keep fighting to survive, to stay with his family that Brian loved so deeply.Dom was lost in thought for a long time, the minutes dragging on and seeming like hours until the door nearby suddenly opened and a tall black woman in dark blue scrubs stepped out. She looked down at Dom and Kali for a moment, surprised, and then asked quietly, "Are you waiting for word on Brian Toretto?"Kali moved, pulling away from Dom and rubbing at her face, and Dom quickly got to his feet as he said, "Yes ma'am. I'm his husband and this is his little sister. How is he?"Kali got to her feet too, biting her lip as she listened. They had let her ride in the ambulance with Brian, squashed into a corner by the back doors and watching through tears that blurred everything while the paramedics fought to keep him alive until he could get to the surgeons that were already gathering at the hospital. Kali's brother had died of a gunshot wound to the chest, though she didn't know any of the details beyond that, and seeing the same thing happen to Brian had been terrifying. Much of the ride to the hospital was a blur of fear to her, but she vividly remembered bits and pieces of it, like when one of the paramedics ripped off his glove to carefully slide one finger into the hole in Brian's chest to press his fingertip against an artery, frantic to slow the bleeding while his partner did everything she could to help, packing gauze around her partner's finger. Kali was very sure that she was watching Brian's last moments all the way, and she knew she'd have nightmares about it for a very long time.The doctor looked very serious as she said, "He lost a lot of blood, Mr Toretto. It's a miracle he survived long enough to reach the hospital at all, and the fact he is still breathing on his own right now is even more amazing. He is a very tough young man and I think he's going to make it as long as there are no major complications, but I must warn you that complications are still very possible at this point. His injuries are quite severe and he is still in very critical condition, but right now he is stable."Dom closed his eyes and whispered, "Thank you, God." He took a slow ragged breath, then opened his eyes again to look at the woman. "And thank you too, ma'am. Are you his doctor?"The woman nodded. "Dr Julian, I'm the hospital's trauma specialist." She hesitated slightly and then went on, obviously choosing her words carefully. "Your husband was very lucky tonight, Mr Toretto. The bullet not only nicked one of the major arteries close to the heart as it passed through, but also splintered two ribs into his left lung and broke off a portion of his scapula. It was touch and go as we tried to stop the bleeding and repair the damage, and we were forced to remove a significant portion of the left lung, but it went very well. If we can keep your husband still until his ribs stabilize and he doesn't develop pneumonia, he should be able to go home in a few weeks. He'll still have to strictly limit his activities for the next several months at minimum, but if he survives the next two weeks and does as he's told, he should recover.""He'll do whatever you say, Doc," Dom said firmly. "I'll make sure of it.""We all will," Kali added, moving to stand close by Dom's side."How is he?!" Tej suddenly called from down the hall. Dom looked towards Tej's voice, surprised, and saw Tej hurrying towards them with Suki and Rick right behind him. Tej had obviously been crying and looked more scared than Dom had ever seen him, and he was limping because he was moving too fast."This is his doc, Tej," Dom said quickly. "He's out of surgery and she says he's going to be okay.""If he is kept quiet and still for the next several weeks," Dr Julian added firmly. "And he must stay away from anyone that has even the slightest cold. If he develops pneumonia, it could be fatal."Tej stopped next to Dom, looking at the doctor. "Kali said he was shot on the left side of his back?" The doctor nodded and then Tej asked, "Did the bullet break the same ribs again?""The ribs that were shattered tonight do show evidence of being broken in the past," Dr Julian replied, looking at Dom. "What happened?""Tej knows the specifics better than I do, doc," Dom said quietly. "I was out of the country then."Dr Julian blinked and then looked questioningly at Tej. "He was kicked in the back by a big guy that caught him right under the shoulder blade," Tej replied instantly, obviously still worried. "Ribs five, six, and seven were broken that time, and then the same ribs were re-injured several times after that, including once that five and six were shattered in the back and punctured the lung.""How do you know all that?" Rick asked, staring at Tej. "I'm his dad, Tej, and even I don't remember exactly which ribs he broke.""He's broken or cracked most of them at least once, but those three on the left side under his shoulder blade never healed right. They've been weak ever since, he could feel them give if something put too much pressure there." Tej glanced at Rick. "And I know because I have the copy of Brian's medical records that Bilkins gave him, poppa bear. As often as Brian stumbles into trouble I thought I might need to know, so I took them away when he wanted to burn them.""You saw it all, son?" Rick asked softly, pained."Yeah, I did," Tej said softly. "I already knew, though. When Brian tells people I know everything about him, he means it. He told me what happened to him long before I saw the pictures and the x-rays and all the rest."Dom looked down, remembering when Tej had wanted to show him Brian's records, not long after Mia was married. Dom hadn't made it through even two pages of Brian's record from Chino before he realized he was crying, and then Tej had taken the folder full of medical records and photos away and decided he shouldn't know all the specifics after all. Tej kept them locked up in the safe in his office in a small fireproof file box of their own, and no one else had a key. Tej had never let even Suki or Jimmy see them, and Dom was sure he never would.Tej had known it all long before he had the proof, of course, had held Brian while he cried after vivid nightmares during those first few months Brian was in Miami. Everyone thought Dom was the strongest one in the family, but Dom knew it was Brian and Tej who were truly the strongest of them. Brian had survived things that would have left the rest of them broken too thoroughly to ever recover but Tej had listened while Brian shared the memories that sparked his dreams, heard the one person he loved most in the world reliving it all and somehow not only got past it himself but also slowly but surely helped Brian put the nightmares to rest. Dom wasn't sure he could have done the same. Tej looked back at Dr Julian, firmly pushing the subject back on track. "Brian got pneumonia within a couple days last time he punctured that lung, doc, but he didn't say anything and nobody noticed until his fever spiked so high he went into convulsions. He tries so hard not to be a bother he'll end up three times as sick if he's not watched.""He will be monitored constantly," Dr Julian said quickly, looking a little worried. "It would be very helpful to have that copy of his medical records, though.""I can have them here for you to see first thing in the morning." Tej hesitated, then added, "But only if you agree they are private. None of it goes in his public medical records here except what has to." Dr Julian's eyebrows went up and she looked at Tej for a moment, frowning, then Tej explained very softly, "There's a reason he wanted to burn them, Doc. He's been hurt a lot and it messed him up for a long time, but he's finally over the worst of his PTSD and he doesn't need people asking him questions and bringing it all back."Dr Julian looked at Tej for a few moments and then nodded. "Alright. I'll personally read them and copy only what's relevant into the hospital's record.""Thanks, doc," Tej murmured, relieved. "Is tomorrow soon enough, or did you need them now?""Sooner would be better," Dr Julian said. "If he's had pneumonia before, it would be wise to start him on the medication that successfully treated it last time as a preventative measure."Tej looked at Suki, who nodded and stepped closer to Tej as she murmured, "Give me his keys, baby.""Thanks, darlin'," Tej murmured, leaning to kiss Suki lovingly. He stuck his hand into his pocket for his keys, separating the three rings he always carried and then offering her the one with the battered old Trans-Am keychain dangling from it. Brian had given it back to Tej years ago with a set of keys to the Mustang, which Tej had never used, and Tej had later added the key to Brian and Dom's bay in the garage and the key to the box with Brian's records. "You know where I keep Brian's papers."Suki nodded quickly as she took the keys. "I won't be long.""I'll go with you," Kali said then. "I need to go change." She stayed over at the garage so often that she had claimed the back end of the big bunk room as her own, keeping more and more of her favorite things there as time went on because her apartment building seemed to constantly have something wrong with it again. The other bunks were seldom used by anyone and had simple utilitarian bedding in the black and red that had been Tej's colors when he was racing, but Kali's bed was as vivid and as colorful as her personality. Her sheets were pale blue silk topped by a rainbow tie-dyed furry throw, and she had hung black mosquito netting from the top bunk that was dotted with silver glittery paint so it sparkled like a starry sky. Even the dresser next to her bed was brightly painted, each drawer a unique work of art that Suki and Kali had painted together years ago when they were teenaged girls fascinated by stories of faeries and unicorns and the fanciful world they lived in."Lock everything up, too," Dom said quietly. "I was in such a hurry I just left.""We'll take care of it, sweetie," Kali agreed, moving to kiss Dom's cheek and then Tej's before she and Suki hurried off towards the Emergency entrance.The door Dr Julian had come out of opened then and a nurse leaned out as she said quickly, "Dr Julian, Dr Roberts is asking for you in surgery.""I'm coming," Dr Julian said quickly, then looked at Dom and Tej. "When you get Brian's records here, have someone at the desk page me.""I will," Dom agreed."Is Dr Roberts working on Brian too?" Tej asked, concerned."He was, but he went back to another patient," Dr Julian replied. "Brian's injuries took priority, he was bleeding out and I needed both of our other surgeons to assist, but the young woman Dr Roberts was working on is relatively stable.""She isn't anymore, Doctor," the nurse said a bit pointedly. "Her appendix just ruptured.""Damn," Dr Julian murmured. She glanced at Dom and Tej. "I'm sure I'll see you both again soon." She turned away without another word to disappear through the door, leaving Dom, Tej, and Rick alone together.Tej stared at the door, chewing on his lower lip and obviously upset, and Dom reached out to put his hand on Tej's back. "He'll be okay," Dom said softly as Tej looked at him. "It's gonna take a while, but we'll make sure of it."Tej's eyes were filled with pain and fear as he stared into Dom's eyes and whispered, "What if he's not?""He will be," Dom said firmly, stepping towards Tej to pull him into his arms without even thinking about it. "You know there's no way Brian will disappoint us both."Tej let out a strangled little noise that wasn't quite a laugh, and then his fragile control shattered and he was clinging to Dom while he cried, mumbling brokenly, "We can't lose him.""We won't." Dom tightened his arms around Tej and pressed a kiss to his temple, ignoring the way Rick was watching them as he murmured, "Bri promised Kali he wouldn't give up and you know how stubborn he is when he makes a promise."Rick watched them with a slight frown, concerned by the way that Tej, who always seemed so strong, had fallen apart right in front of him. He didn't know what to say or do that might help, though, had no idea if anything could help, so he stayed silent and let Dom handle it. He was surprised by how Dom reacted, but after only a few moments he remember Kali telling Dom that Brian wanted Dom to take care of Tej for him.Tej didn't respond, still crying against Dom's shoulder, and after a few moments Dom rested his nose against Tej's short hair. "Just let it out, baby. I got you."Rick's eyes widened and he stared at Dom and Tej, surprised as much by Dom calling anyone but Brian 'baby' as he was by the way Tej just turned a little more towards Dom to hide his face and clung to him, crying.Dom could feel Rick still staring at them and was sure Rick likely didn't approve, but he couldn't make himself care. He stood there in the hospital corridor and held Tej close as he gently rubbed his back, remembering what Brian told Kali and wondering if Brian knew how Tej would react. He kind of thought he did, just like Brian surely knew it was easier for Dom to handle his own fear and pain with the distraction of someone else to take care of, but Dom hadn't really needed to be told to take care of Tej.Tej had taken care of Brian too many times to count, kept him safe and made sure Brian always felt loved and protected as long at Tej was nearby, and Dom couldn't do anything less for Tej. ~*~*~ The little ICU waiting room was full, every one of the six uncomfortable plastic chairs occupied. Tej was sitting by Suki in the chairs nearest to the nurses' station with Dom in the floor by them, his knees pulled up to his chest with his arms around them and his forehead resting on them, hiding his face. Kali was sitting in the floor next to Dom again with her arm around his back and her head on his shoulder, and Tej was pretty sure she was asleep. Rick was in a chair across from Tej, his chin resting on his chest as he snored very quietly, and Rome was next to him with Letty curled up in his lap, both of them silent and worried but wide awake. Leon and Jimmy were sitting in the other two chairs off to Tej's left next to the door to the hospital hallway, Leon reading a paperback he bought in the gift shop while Jimmy was doing something on his phone.Tej was trying hard to keep control of himself, his left leg bouncing rapidly as he wondered where Dr Julian was. She had come to get Brian's medical records soon after Suki got back with them and then disappeared to go make copies of what she felt was relevant to Brian's current condition, but that was a long time ago. He knew there was a lot of information in Brian's file, the medical staff in Chino had been explicitly thorough in recording every time Brian was in the infirmary, but he still thought it shouldn't take over three hours to determine what the hospital staff needed to know and what they didn't.Brian had been moved into a room in the ICU and was supposedly being watched every moment by a nurse, but they didn't know that for sure. The nurses wouldn't let anyone in to go see him until Brian's doctor gave permission, and evidently she had fallen off the planet. Dom had asked twice how much longer they would have to wait to see Brian, and Rick had gotten downright angry after the second time Dom was dismissed completely like his concern for his husband didn't matter at all, but it didn't do any good. The nurses just smiled politely and said hospital rules were very firm and for them to wait and the doctor would be with them soon.A tall man in a white doctor's coat walked out of ICU then with his phone to his ear, and Tej looked up to watch the doctor moving through the waiting area while he talked. "I know, Gregory. I have no idea how he made it to the hospital at all, much less how he's still alive. I've never heard of anyone surviving such extensive damage to the rib cage and lung. He should have bled out on the scene within moments." He went through the other doorway out into the hall.Tej closed his eyes, trying not to cry again and silently thanking God for not taking Brian from them that night. He wasn't sure he could make it through losing Brian. He loved Suki more than anyone else but Brian, but that night had made it blindingly clear to him that it still just wasn't the same. He loved Suki dearly, she was his wife and he treasured her and did his best to treat her like a queen, but Brian had owned him since he was nineteen and fell for a shy, broken kid who walked into his life one morning and wanted to learn more about working on cars. Tej had tried hard to ignore Brian that day, tried to pretend he didn't want to find out all he could about that quiet boy with the vividly blue eyes and shaggy golden hair, but it had been a losing battle from the moment Brian gave him that first sweet little smile and introduced himself.Suki gave Tej's hand a squeeze and he opened his eyes to look at her as she leaned over close and whispered, "He'll be okay, baby. You know how tough Brian is, and Kali said he promised not to give up."The door to the hospital hallway opened and Dr Julian walked in quickly, moving straight to where Tej and Dom were as Dom lifted his head to look towards the sound of approaching heels. The doctor offered the thick envelope of Brian's records to Tej, looking surprised but a little sad too as she murmured, "I've copied all that we need, Mr Parker. I understand now why you didn't want me to share them."Tej accepted the envelope as Dom spoke up, his voice a low tired rumble as he asked, "Doctor, can we see him now? The nurses said you have to give us permission."Kali was awake again, looking sleepy but hopeful as she shifted away from Dom a little and looked up at the doctor. "Please?"Dr Julian frowned. "I gave permission!" She moved to the nearby nurses desk, looking at the woman on duty as she said firmly, "Nancy, I sent Marjorie to tell you that Brian Toretto's family were to be allowed to sit with him over two hours ago.""I've been here since midnight, Dr Julian," the nurse, who was evidently named Nancy, replied quickly, looking surprised. "I haven't seen Marjorie all night."Dr Julian's frown got a little more annoyed. "Please make a note on Brian Toretto's records now then, Nancy." The nurse turned to reach for a rack of records, pulling one set out and opening it to start making notes as Dr Julian went on. "His family is to be allowed to see him immediately, and his husband Dominic Toretto is his medical proxy and is to be allowed to stay with him, as is his father, Detective Rick Tanner.""Tej Parker too, ma'am," Dom said firmly, making Dr Julian look down at him. "Tej knows Brian's medical records better than anyone and knows all the things that aren't in the records, too. They've been close since they were kids and I know Brian wants him to be allowed access to everything."Dr Julian looked at Dom a moment longer and then looked back at the nurse. "Do as he said, Nancy. Add Mr Parker as Brian's proxy as well, and make a note he's to be allowed to stay. Also note that Brian suffers from PTSD and it is imperative that the staff listen to his husband, his father, and Mr Parker concerning his mental well-being. If he's pushed into a panic attack, it could kill him.""Yes, Doctor," Nancy replied, writing quickly. "Maria is with him now, you left instructions he wasn't to be alone for any reason.""Yes, I did," Dr Julian said firmly. "But I intended for a nurse to stay only until his family could watch over him." She looked down at Dom then, adding, "Mr Toretto, if you would come with me?" She glanced at Tej and Suki and then at Rick, who had woken up and was watching and listening as she added, "You may come as well, Mr Parker, Detective Tanner, but I'm afraid ICU only allows three visitors at a time."Dom got to his feet quickly as Rick did the same and said quietly, "Thank you, Doctor."Tej stood too, glancing at Suki, who reached to take Brian's records and gave him an encouraging smile. "Give him my love.""I will, darlin'," Tej agreed, leaning down to kiss Suki and then stepping closer to Dom and Dr Julian.Kali stood and moved to grab Tej's hand as she said softly, "I'll keep Suki company for you, Tej.""Thanks, sis," Tej replied quietly, giving Kali an attempt at a smile as he gave her hand a squeeze.Kali smiled at him, a little shaky but sincere, then moved to sit by Suki.Dr Julian turned away and started towards the ICU doorway as she said, "If you'll follow me, gentlemen."Dom and Tej quickly followed her with Rick right behind them as Dr Julian led them through the door that led into the actual ICU ward of the hospital. There were six rooms situated to be in full view of the nurse's station, each with a wide window facing the hallway. Only two were occupied, one well-lit with an older woman sitting next to a teenaged girl watching her sleep, and the other dark enough they could barely make out Brian's blond hair and the Latina nurse sitting in a chair next to his bed playing with her phone.Dr Julian led them over to Brian's room and then stopped just outside the closed door, turning back to look at them as she said very quietly, "Before we go in, I should warn you that Brian will not be awake for at least a few days. He has lost approximately thirty percent of his left lung and is still in critical condition. Moving or even breathing too hard could kill him at this point, so he will remain sedated until we're completely certain he's stable."Tej swallowed hard as Dom asked softly, "Because of his ribs?""More because of the sutures in his lungs at this point," Dr Julian replied quietly. "Lungs are very delicate and we had to put in so many sutures I lost count to try to repair what remains of his left lung. If he were to cough or even breathe too deeply the sutures could tear and cause internal bleeding, which is why we left drains in place so that we can monitor any bleeding that occurs."Dom nodded. "Which is part of why he's supposed to be supervised?""Yes, the drains need to be monitored closely for the next few days," Dr Julian agreed. "I can assign nurses to that, but as you see..." She gestured towards the glass across the front of Brian's room, where they could see the Latina nurse still playing with her phone. She looked back at Dom and Tej, murmuring very quietly, "I believe that his family will pay more attention to him.""We will," Dom agreed."Every minute, if we have to," Tej added quietly. "There is nothing more important to me or Dom than taking care of Brian. We're not leaving until he does."Dom nodded. "We're here for the duration, doc."Dr Julian smiled. "He's a very lucky young man." She turned away to open the door to Brian's room, leading them inside as the nurse by his bed looked up in surprise, then flushed and put away her phone. Dr Julian gave her a dirty look, then moved to the left side of the bed and reached to turn on the light over it before she tugged the sheet down to check Brian's bandages and the short tubes protruding from them, gauze taped in place in the end of each one.Dom and Tej both moved to the foot of the bed, and Tej just stared at Brian for a few moments, fighting to control himself. Brian was pale and still with dark bruises and scrapes visible on one side of his face even though he was wearing an oxygen mask, the two drains protruding from the bandages on his chest both showing a pale pink tinge to the gauze sealing the ends. Tej noticed then that the gauze on the tubes that disappeared under Brian's back were sealed by gauze soaked with blood so dark it was nearly black, and he couldn't quite keep back a pained noise. Dom turned towards Tej and pulled him into his arms. "Shh, he'll be okay."Tej realized he was crying and hid his face against Dom's shoulder, his hands resting against Dom's chest as he whispered, "You can't know that.""I think God's got to be on our side right now," Dom murmured. "You heard that other doctor. If he was going to die, he never would have made it this far. You gotta have faith."Tej closed his hands on the material of Dom's shirt, holding on as he admitted, "I don't.""Maria, I need fresh gauze for these lower drains, please," Dr Julian said firmly. "You should have changed them an hour ago like I instructed.""I did, Doctor," Maria said quietly. "I cleaned and repacked all four of them."Dr Julian looked at Maria in surprise, frowning, then looked back down at Brian as she said, "It still needs to be done again. Go and get what I need, please.""Yes, Doctor," Maria agreed, hurrying out of the room.Tej couldn't keep it together any longer, his knees going weak as he started crying harder. Dom held him up a few moments and then moved to sit in the floor against the foot of Brian's hospital bed with Tej in his lap as Tej sobbed. Dom just held Tej, rocking him slightly, and then a few moments later Suki was suddenly there too, wrapping her arms around Tej as she whispered, "He'll be okay, baby."Tej couldn't even respond. All he could think about was Brian so deathly still and pale, bleeding internally and so hurt that just breathing might still kill him. ~*~*~ Brian woke up in a dimly lit room with an oxygen tube under his nose and the distinctively floaty feel of morphine in his system, a familiar burning pain in the left side of his chest every time he breathed. He didn't move a muscle, afraid of what other pains he'd find if he did, just laying still as he slowly gathered his wits. He heard a machine beeping quietly nearby and could smell that distinctive Lysol and bleach odor hospitals had, and he closed his eyes again as tears began to leak down the sides of his face.Morphine dreams had always been a welcome escape from Chino, but this time it hurt too much to wake up and realize it wasn't real. Being married to Dom, living and working with Tej and Rome every day and having such an awesome life with so many friends that were more like family was better than any life Brian had ever even dared dream he'd have. Brian knew he wasn't that lucky like he knew his own name, but it still hurt like hell to crash back to his own reality, hurt and weak and very alone with pneumonia making his left lung feel like every breath was on fire.Brian had been laying there silently crying for a little while when Dom's familiar voice suddenly asked, "Baby, are you awake?"Brian opened his eyes in surprise to see Dom moving close to the bed on his right, leaning over him and looking tired and worried."Don't move," Dom added, "you got shot and your ribs are in sorry shape."Tej moved into sight next to Dom then, looking exhausted with his eyes a little red and full of concern but relieved, too. "Want us to call the doc? You're about due for another round of morphine if you're hurting bad."Brian just stared at them a moment, not sure he really believed what he was seeing as he whispered, "Not Chino?""Not even California." Dom took Brian's right hand in both of his, trying but failing to hide how it hurt that Brian still felt like Chino was a more believable reality than the life he had with Dom. In their early days together Brian had often woken up thinking that it was all a dream, but Dom had thought he was past it, that he finally accepted that their life together was real. "We're real, baby. Dreams can't touch you when you're awake, remember?""You're home in Miami where you belong," Tej added firmly. He reached out to run his fingers through Brian's hair like he had done so many times before after a nightmare, and Brian started to relax a little at the familiar soothing touch. "Chino was years ago. You're safe with me and Dom, baby boy, and the girls are right outside. The hospital only lets three into ICU rooms at a time and your dad just left."Brian let his eyes fall closed, so relieved he felt a few more tears sliding down his face as he whispered hoarsely, "Too good." Every breath felt like it was on fire and he hardly had enough air to talk at all, but he did it anyway. "Thought I dreamed it.""Well, you didn't," Tej said more gently. "We're real, the bad shit is what was just a nightmare. Believe that, you know I don't lie to you, not about anything.""Our life really is that good, baby," Dom said added softly, his eyes pained. "I would have said perfect until you got shot.""You scared us bad," Tej agreed more softly, still stroking Brian's hair. "We nearly lost you."Brian was still and just breathed for a few moments, his brow furrowing as he tried to think, then he suddenly remembered the glimpse he got of a familiar face. He had pulled the trigger again right after that, sending blood and brains everywhere and then falling back to stare up at the bumper of Kali's BMW. He licked his lips, which felt dry and cracked like he hadn't had anything to drink in days, then whispered, "Roberto.""Yeah," Tej agreed quietly. "He got out on parole just before Verone was executed and was under house arrest in Tampa. He cut off his ankle bracelet and ran a couple weeks ago, and nobody thought to warn us. They found his car in the next lot over from the diner and checked traffic cams for it to make sure he was alone. He was there lurking around the garage for almost a week before he followed Kali's BMW that night after you three went to dinner. She left her keys in the car like she always does and he pulled the cable off the battery to use her as bait.""Saw it." Brian swallowed, trying to ease his scratchy throat, but it didn't help and his voice was even rougher as he asked barely loud enough for them to hear, "Drink?"Dom let go of Brian's hand and moved away, and Brian barely had time to open his eyes before Dom was back with a plastic cup that had a straw stuck in it. Tej slid his hand under Brian's head, gently lifting it as Dom put the straw to Brian's lips and murmured, "I'm sure you're thirsty, baby, but take it slow. You haven't had anything in days and your stomach probably can't take much."Brian obediently sipped at the straw, humming softly at the familiar taste of cold, sweet lemonade, and then he had to pause to take a breath before he took a deeper drink as he realized how thirsty he really was. He took a few more swallows between pauses to breathe before Dom pulled the straw away and Tej carefully lowered his head back to the pillow while Dom set the cup aside on the bedside table.Brian just laid there and breathed carefully for a moment, feeling how the left side of his chest burned at every breath, then looked at Dom and Tej again, barely noticing how much stronger his voice sounded as he asked, "Days?""You were shot five days ago," Dom said softly. "Your doctor kept you under so you wouldn't move until she was sure you were stable." He hesitated, then added, "Just breathing was shifting what's left of your ribs and they had to go in a second time to remove some of the pieces and wrap metal around what was left to stabilize them, but the doc says you're doing much better now.""Pneumonia?" Brian asked softly."Does it feel like you have pneumonia?" Tej asked quickly, frowning."Chest burns," Brian murmured, nodding slightly. "Like breathing fire.""I'll go have them find the doctor," Tej said quickly, touching Dom's arm a moment before he hurried out of the room."Don't worry, baby," Dom said gently, reaching to stroke Brian's cheek with his free hand. Brian leaned into his touch, closing his eyes as Dom went on quietly, his voice a low rumble. "You've got a great doc, she'll get you feeling better soon."Brian smiled slightly and rubbed his cheek against Dom's hand, closing his eyes as he whispered, "Love you.""Love you too, mi vida ," Dom murmured, leaning down to kiss Brian softly.Brian kissed back with a pleased hum, smiling still and opening his eyes when Dom pulled away. "So lucky.""Yeah, I am," Dom agreed, smiling too.Brian smiled wider as he closed his eyes again, relaxing. "Meant me."Dom let out a soft huff that wasn't quite a laugh. "We've been through that, baby. I get you so I win. Just ask Tej."Brian was amused even though he didn't have the energy to laugh. "Biased.""Maybe," Dom agreed quietly, smiling as he stroked Brian's hair gently with his free hand. "We both love you a hell of a lot.""Back at you," Brian murmured, then added, "'M so tired.""Sleep, baby," Dom said firmly. "You need the rest, it'll help you heal.""'Kay," Brian agreed, barely loud enough he could hear himself. Dom kept stroking his hair, slow and gentle, and only a few moments later Brian was drifting off into a peaceful sleep. ~*~*~ Rick sat quietly in his corner of Brian's hospital room, silently sipping at a cup of coffee and thinking as he watched the two men on the bed across the room sleep.Brian had finally been moved out of the ICU to a normal room and Tej had insisted on one with two beds so that there would be somewhere to sleep besides the tiny, uncomfortable hospital cot Tej and Dom had slept on in shifts in Brian's ICU room. Rick had been sure that Tej and Dom would share the extra bed in Brian's new room and they did, but not quite the way he had expected.Rick thought he should be getting used to that by now where Dom and Tej were concerned, though. He always seemed to be wrong about the men Brian loved, especially since Brian left California. When he followed Brian to Miami, he had quickly begun to wonder about Tej's motives, mostly because of Suki. He hadn't realized that he was wrong about Tej's relationship with her until after Kali invited herself to dinner with Rick one night to point out a few facts to him that changed how he saw a lot of things.A few careful conversations with Suki afterwards had made it blindingly clear that Kali was right and Suki knew it, and then Rick had stopped interfering between Brian and Tej completely. Tej hadn't ever been trying to keep Brian on the side while he was really in love with Suki like Rick had thought. No, it was the other way around, and always had been. Tej was deeply in love with Brian and everyone except for Brian knew it, especially Suki. Tej loved her too, but Rick was sure he'd never forget Suki telling him that what Tej felt for her was like a candle next to a bonfire compared what Tej felt for Brian.Suki had hated Brian at first because of it, Rick was very sure of that, but soon after her talk with Rick she seemed to accept it. Brian had taken her to lunch one day and somehow made peace between them, Rick had been told that much, but he had no idea what Brian did or said to so completely change her attitude towards him. Over the course of just a few days while Rick was busy with a murder Suki had gone from bitching about Brian and saying cruel things to him to treating him almost like Tej did, sweet and affectionate wanting him to be happy. She had even started encouraging Tej to be with Brian, teasing Tej and getting him aroused and then blatantly passing him off to Brian to take care of, and they had all been fine with it.Brian had wanted Tej to end up with Suki, though, and Suki evidently loved Tej enough to accept the fact she would never be first in Tej's heart, so Tej had, as usual, made sure Brian got what he wanted.Rick didn't doubt Tej loved Suki, Tej was crazy about the girl, and Rick knew Suki worshiped Tej, but he still didn't understand their relationship. Brian was still part of it after he got back with Rome, no matter what anyone said. Brian and Tej didn't sleep together after that, didn't even kiss as far as Rick knew, but they still loved each other deeply and selflessly and everyone knew it. Brian was the third person in Tej and Suki's marriage and had been since before they were even engaged, and Rick was sure he always would be. The only one who still seemed not to realize that was Brian.When Dom suddenly appeared and laid claim to Brian -- and that was what he had done as far as Rick could tell, just walked in and told everyone Brian was his -- everything had changed about Brian's love life, except Tej. Rome had pulled away and made himself scarce a lot more often, which Rick had thought he understood at first, but the last thing he had expected was for Rome to be so happy about it. Rome was very determined that Brian belonged with Dom, as were Tej and Suki, and Rick had quickly realized that Jimmy and Kali and Leon and pretty much everyone else who knew Brian agreed with them, even Letty.It seemed like everyone who loved Brian had wanted him to be with Dom from the moment Dom rolled into town, except Rick.Rick had thought that Tej controlled Brian's life a little too much there in Miami, that Brian was too willing to do what Tej wanted of him, but he had finally realized that he was seeing it all backwards. Tej had controlled Brian's life because Brian needed him to and Tej had done his best to step up and do it for Brian. It had taken Rick a long time to start seeing how hard Tej pushed himself to be everything Brian needed from him, but by then Tej had a lot of help. The family that Tej and Brian had built around them helped make it work, watching out for Tej and Brian and taking up the slack.Dom joining the family hadn't changed the way Tej and Brian felt about each other at all, but it had made some drastic changes in how much Brian relied on Tej to take care of him. Dom had quietly and easily stepped into Tej's place in Brian's life as his caretaker, his keeper as Brian had so often been told he needed, and suddenly Tej could just enjoy life with Brian so close to him. Tej didn't have to worry about taking care of Brian anymore, Dom had that covered in spades, and it had been obvious to Rick how that had allowed Tej to relax and just be happy, which had made Suki so happy she practically glowed.It took months for Rick to stop waiting for Dom to do something wrong and accept that Dom was exactly what Brian had always insisted he was, a good man who was just doing his best to take care of those he loved. The day Rick found himself wanting Dom's advice on something, needing it, was when he finally really accepted it all. Dom controlled a lot more than Brian's life by then, quietly accepting the 'dad' role in the family that Tej and Brian had built around themselves. Dom had never tried to be the head of their family, never seemed to expect it, it was just natural to him much the way Brian never tried to make people love him, he just was Brian and it happened.Dom's influence had somehow brought the whole family a little closer together than they had been before Dom joined them. Dom was very careful not to interfere in the way Tej and Jimmy ran the garage, called them both boss and happily did anything they asked him to just like Brian did, but outside of work was very different. Rick had seen them both tell people to ask Dom when they wanted an answer on something that affected the whole family, especially if it might affect Sunday dinner. That was the one thing Dom had quietly pushed for with Brian's full support, and eventually the family had all settled into the habit. Sunday afternoon was family time, always, and they could usually all be found behind the garage gathered around the big table there to relax and talk together while they ate.Tej made a low noise then, drawing Rick's wandering attention back to the bed across the room, and Rick frowned as he realized Tej looked like he was upset even though he was asleep. Tej made another soft pained noise a few moments later, a tear sliding down his cheek, and Dom shifted to pull Tej closer, nuzzling the top of Tej's head with a rumbling noise that wasn't quite a word as his arms tightened around Tej.Rick was surprised to see Tej's expression start to relax almost immediately. Tej was soon sleeping peacefully again, looking small there curled up against Dom's chest, and Rick watched Tej sleep for a few more minutes before he finally noticed Dom had woken up and was looking towards the other bed with a soft loving smile.Rick followed Dom's gaze and his eyes widened a bit as he realized Brian was awake. Rick couldn't see most of Brian's face, but he could see enough to be sure he was smiling as he looked at Dom and Tej, and Rick wondered again what had prompted Brian to tell Kali he wanted Dom taking care of Tej. It had hurt when Rick heard her tell Dom that in the hall that night when they weren't even sure Brian would survive yet, afraid Brian had somehow known he wouldn't make it, but by the next day he had realized that wasn't what Brian had meant at all.Rick had thought Tej had been a wreck in the hallway after he spoke with Brian's doctor that night, but that was nothing compared to when they were finally allowed to see Brian in ICU. Brian was deathly pale and still then, completely unresponsive and swathed in bandages with bloody tubes into his chest and bruises on his face from falling when he was shot. It was a good thing Brian had been sedated too deeply to hear what went on around him then, because Tej had lost it and it took Suki and Dom holding him for quite a while to calm him down, all three of them in the floor while Rick watched and prayed he'd never have to find out what losing Brian would do to any of them.The hospital staff had put their foot down soon after that on the no more than three visitors in the room rule that was set in stone in the ICU. Rick had expected to be shuffled off into the nearby waiting room then, but instead had been shocked when Suki hugged Dom and kissed his cheek and told him to take care of Tej and Brian for her. Dom had promised he would and told her to let him know when she wanted to spend time with them, both of them obviously assuming Tej wouldn't be leaving Brian's side, and Suki had agreed and left. Dom hadn't ended up leaving the room either, Rick had been the one to leave so the others could go in one at a time to see Brian, but Rick was sure Dom would have stepped out if Suki asked him to.A week later, Dom was still taking care of Tej and Brian, though now Brian had his own private room and the hospital staff allowed him more visitors at a time. Rick wasn't there all the time, he had a job after all, and most of the others were busy during the day running the garage, but they all still visited Brian often. Rick was there when he could be, whatever time it was when he had an hour or two to spend with Brian, which was how he had ended up walking in at two in the morning and caught Dom and Tej in bed together.Dom noticed Rick finally then and smiled at him, lifting one hand from Tej's back to wave, and Rick smiled a bit wryly as he waved back.Brian lifted his head and looked towards the clock and then at Rick, surprised as he whispered, "Why are you here so late?""I finally got done with that case," Rick replied very softly, standing to walk over by Brian's bed. Brian didn't have the lung capacity he used to have, which had made talking at all difficult and painful at first, but Rick could tell he was getting better just by the way Brian was able to speak in sentences again, if short ones. When he first woke up, Brian could only say a few words at most before he had to stop to breathe, but now he could take a breath between sentences and really have a conversation. "I just wanted to see how you're doing before I head home. Kali told me your fever spiked again.""It went up one degree," Brian whispered with a sudden fond smile. "I was fine. Tej is just a mother hen." He pointed at the bedside table with his good hand and Rick looked over there, then had to stifle a laugh. An instant-read thermometer was laying there, bright pink with a baby rattle on it. "He got that in the gift shop. I caught him checking me.""Stop talking shit about me," Tej mumbled then, making Dom chuckle.Rick looked over at them and saw Dom stroke one hand along Tej's back as Tej hid his face against Dom's chest. Rick moved back to his chair since there was no reason to try to be quiet anymore, sitting down to relax. He'd been on his feet almost all day and he was tired, but he had wanted to see Brian more than he wanted to go home and sleep."I worry about you, baby boy," Tej added, a little muffled. "It's my job to take care of you.""Kinda my job," Dom corrected in a low rumble, very amused. "I married him." Tej pulled back to look at him, surprised and looking a little worried, and Dom smirked slightly. "But I'll share for you as long as you don't get pissy when I take care of you too.""I haven't been," Tej murmured, looking sheepish and almost shy."I know," Dom agreed softly, his smirk fading into a warm, gentle smile. "It's probably gonna annoy you more once you really start believing Bri is gonna be okay though. You've just been too freaked out to argue with me.""Needed it too bad," Brian corrected quietly, making Tej roll to his back as he and Dom both looked at Brian. Brian was smiling as he met Tej's gaze, his blue eyes gentle and warm as he added, "That's why I told Kali to make Dom take care of you."Tej just stared at Brian a moment, then asked softly, "Why Dom?""Because he loves you," Brian replied, smiling. "And I knew you'd let him.""I didn't understand when Kali told me," Dom admitted softly as he shifted on the bed to prop himself up on one elbow, making Tej and Brian both look at him. He was looking at Brian, his dark eyes pained as he added, "For a little while there I thought you were giving up on me.""Never," Brian said firmly. "Just knew I couldn't take care of him. He won't let Suki see him fall apart.""He did though, baby," Dom corrected softly, making Brian stare at him in surprise. "When they finally let us see you that first night, it took me and Suki both a long time to calm him down." He gave Brian a tiny crooked little smile. "You scared us pretty bad.""It didn't help that we had overheard that other doctor talking about how he'd never seen anyone survive having their ribs shattered so bad," Tej added very softly, looking pained and scared at the memory. "Your doc told us you'd lost thirty percent of your left lung right after that and that you were still so critical they were afraid to let you wake up because even breathing could kill you. Then they let us in and you were so still and pale and looking beat to hell with those drains in your chest, and when I saw the ones in your back were full of blood I lost it.""I'm sorry I scared you," Brian murmured softly. "I told Kali to be careful but then I wasn't. If I had looked around, I might have seen him." He had to stop to take a slow careful breath, looking at Dom as he added, "I'm glad I listened to you. Without my gun we'd be dead.""I'm glad you listened to me too," Dom murmured. "It'd kill me to lose you.""Kill us," Tej corrected very softly. He wasn't looking at the others, his gaze firmly on the ceiling.Dom moved his hand to Tej's chest as he murmured, "You can't think like that. You have Suki to take care of and a family that would never be the same without you."Tej looked at Dom and said very softly, "Suki would be the first to tell you it would kill me to lose Brian. And besides, you have a family too.""If I screw the pooch, I expect you both to make it," Brian said firmly, making Tej and Dom look at him again. He was breathing a little fast and Rick frowned, concerned. "You have to take care of each other.""I've tried living without you, baby," Dom said gently. "It wasn't living.""Same," Tej agreed softly."I've had to go on with nobody," Brian pointed out very softly. "It wasn't easy, but I survived.""You're a lot stronger than you think you are, Bri," Dom said with a crooked little smile. "Stronger than me. I've known that for a long time now.""Yeah, same here," Tej agreed softly. "I'd never survive all you've been through, baby boy.""Definitely wouldn't if you didn't try," Brian said, unhappy and worried. "You have to take care of each other for me.""You don't need to be worrying about it now anyway," Rick said firmly, making them all look at him in surprise, and he realized they had forgotten he was there. "Brian's getting better every day, unless someone's been lying to me.""This time, yeah," Brian said quietly, "but I nearly died again. Eventually my luck will run out.""I've nearly died myself," Tej pointed out, making them look at him. He was looking at Brian, frowning slightly as he added, "Maybe it'll be me that dies and you'd have to take care of Suki for me.""Oh hell no," Brian said, surprised. "I am not dad material."Tej stared at Brian. "Dad ?"Brian blinked and then his blue eyes went very wide. "Oh shit. Suki's gonna kill me."Tej rolled to sit up on the edge of the bed he and Dom had been laying on, staring at Brian wide-eyed. "Talk, Brian. Now.""She was going to tell you! She had it all planned." Brian had to stop for another breath, then added quickly, "That's why she wanted dinner alone!" He shifted on the bed, obviously trying to see Tej better, and then froze with a little hurt sound at the pain the movement caused.Rick frowned, watching Brian worriedly. Brian had admitted the night before that his chest still hurt all the time, but it was his shoulder that hurt the most if he forgot and moved it. The bullet had gone through the shoulder blade and broken off the end of the bone, which had been repaired with a thin metal plate, but the ribs underneath also had to be partially replaced with a plate during the second surgery on his ribs. The muscles under and around the shoulder blade had to be stitched back together a second time afterwards both because of the surgery and the damage from the bullet and fragments of bone, leaving Brian with the ache of the broken bones and the pain of those broken bones putting pressure on torn muscles.Dom rolled off the other side of the bed he had been sharing with Tej and walked quickly around it towards Brian. "Dammit, Brian. Be still. You're gonna hurt yourself worse.""Forgot," Brian admitted breathlessly. He winced as he settled back against the bed again, closing his eyes as he held very still, breathing carefully and pale, obviously in a lot of pain.Dom reached Brian's side and reached out to brush back his hair. "Baby, if you want to sit up, I can crank up the bed, remember?""Forgot that too," Brian admitted quietly, opening his eyes to give Dom a wry little smile. He looked towards Tej again and then back at Dom as he said, "Up a little? Holding my head up hurts."Dom reached for the bed controls, which were on the side of the bed where Brian couldn't reach, and murmured, "Tell me when to stop."Brian nodded and was still while the bed started to hum, the head end slowly tilting upwards until Brian winced. "That's enough.""Too much, going by your face," Dom corrected, frowning slightly. "Do you need it back down a little?""No," Brian said quietly. "Moving it moves me, that's why it hurt." He smiled at Dom. "I'm good, now I can see.""Alright, baby," Dom agreed, leaning down to kiss Brian softly and then moving to sit down carefully by Brian's feet."Speaking of a baby," Tej said then, making the others look at him again. He was looking kind of worried as he met Brian's gaze and asked a little hesitantly, "She's sure?""She's going to kill me dead," Brian said with a sigh. "Remember when she tackled me after Dom and I went for groceries? Sunday before I got shot?" Tej nodded, wide-eyed, and Brian admitted, "I got her a pregnancy test. She used it on our boat, didn't want anyone catching her.""I wondered which of the girls you bought that for," Dom murmured, amused. "I kind of thought it might be Letty, she's been acting pretty bipolar recently."Brian let out a surprised laugh, looking pained as he wrapped his good arm across his belly. "Ow."Dom patted Brian's ankle, looking sheepish. "Sorry, baby.""You should be," Brian said, amused and fighting hard not to laugh again. "Letty never wants kids, and Rome's terrified of them. They use three kinds of birth control and prob'ly still worry.""Three?" Tej asked, surprised.Brian looked at Tej, bemused. "Explains how Suki got pregnant."Dom laughed as Tej said a little pointedly, "We haven't used any birth control since we got married, and we only used the pills and rubbers before that. What's the other one?""I'm gay and know more about birth control than you?" Brian half-asked, looking like he was fighting not to laugh again. "Seriously?"Rick shook his head, amused despite how odd the whole conversation was to him. Brian really was the last person in the family that needed to worry about birth control. He wasn't very likely to get pregnant, though everyone knew he enjoyed trying. Brian was good at many things, but staying quiet during sex was definitely not one of them. The whole family had heard more than Brian wanted them to, which embarrassed Brian so much when anyone commented on it that they had all agreed just not to tell him anymore when he got a little loud. It was one of the reasons that the garage now had an integrated stereo system hooked up to the office computer, where Kali had set up a hard drive and 'jukebox' programming just for the eclectic mix of music the family liked."Oh, shut up," Tej said with a laugh. "Just tell me.""Rome buys condoms and spermicide by the case," Brian said, amused. "And I'm sure Letty is on the pill.""No, baby, she likes those hormonal implant things," Dom corrected, smirking slightly. "She could forget to take a pill, but with the implant she just has to go to the doc every six months. She's got like five reminders on her phone and on mine so she can't possibly forget, and probably has them on Rome's, too.""Prob'ly," Brian said, grinning. "Still three ways.""Yeah," Dom agreed, amused. "Rome's wasting his money, though. He could just buy the condoms that already have the spermicide.""Then he couldn't use extra," Brian said with a little snicker, fighting not to laugh.Dom laughed. "If he's that worried, he should just get snipped.""Yeah, never happening," Brian said, grinning. "Only thing scares him more than kids is a knife near his balls."Rick snorted and stood up, amused. "That's more than I ever wanted to know about Rome's sex life. I'm going home before you three start talking about Jimmy, or worse, Kali.""Or Jimmy and Kali," Dom said dryly, amused. "They still end up together a lot more often than Kali gets with anyone else, no matter how much they say they're just friends.""That's because Kali says he's amazing," Tej pointed out, amused. "The whole mechanic having talented hands thing.""Which is true," Brian agreed looking at Dom with a little smirk, and Dom winked at him."I don't want to know any more!" Rick said quickly, laughing. "Kali claims Bri is her big brother and calls me Dad." He walked over to the bed, leaning down to kiss Brian's forehead, then moved to pat Tej on the shoulder as he said, "Congrats, kiddo.""Thanks, poppa bear," Tej said with a little smile. "You better watch out, or you'll end up being called grampa.""Might as well," Rick said easily, smiling as he started towards the door. "You've been calling me poppa for most of ten years now.""You really wouldn't mind?" Tej asked, sounding kind of surprised but happy.Rick stopped at the door to look back towards the others, smiling wider at the way Brian was beaming and how pleased Tej and Dom both looked. "Not at all." He smirked. "Brian's sure not gonna give me grandkids, no matter how often he tries."Brian blushed beet red as Tej and Dom both started laughing."Night boys," Rick said, still smirking as he walked out of the room to head for the elevator. It was going to be after three by the time he got home, but he didn't really mind even though that meant he'd only get to sleep about four hours before he had to get up for work.After coming so close to losing Brian, every minute Rick could spend with him was worth it. ~*~*~ The first week Brian was in the hospital he didn't get bored at all. He didn't remember much of the first several days, nothing until after the second surgery when part of his ribs were replaced with hardware, and what he did remember wasn't very pleasant. He had been in a lot of pain whenever the sedatives wore off even with the high dose of morphine he was on, and he had vague memories of waking up thinking he was back in Chino again a few times. Dom and Tej had been right there every time he woke up, quick to reassure him he was safe, and eventually he started to believe it.Not being able to get out of bed or even move much led to some embarrassing situations for Brian, and he was extremely grateful to have Dom and Tej there so willing to care for him. It wasn't exactly fun for Brian to have to rely on even Dom and Tej to help with certain things, but it would have been a thousand times worse to be forced to let strangers do it. Brian had to live through that a few times while he was in Chino and just the thought was enough to make him feel a little sick. Tej and Dom both knew about it all, though, knew how traumatizing it had been for Brian, and they made certain that they were always the ones to take care of him. Brian's nurses and his doctor had commented on how lucky he was to be so loved several times, and Brian agreed completely.Brian was still in a lot of pain if he moved or laughed even towards the end of the second week in the hospital, but the doctors had stopped sedating him, rightly sure that Dom and Tej would make sure Brian moved as little as possible. Brian was on an IV drip with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medications, and heavy-duty cough suppressants, but the doctors were guardedly happy with his progress, except for his lungs. What had begun as an infection only in the left lung had spread to the right one near the end of his second week in the hospital, though the left was still the most dangerous part. Both drains in the front of his chest had been removed, but the doctors hesitated to remove the ones in his back. There was still blood in them sometimes and the doctors were worried that Brian could hemorrhage internally without them knowing it if they removed them. They were afraid to open him up again to look for the bleed while he was still fighting pneumonia, and the bleeding was minor enough that they were hoping it would heal on its own.By the end of the third week in the hospital Brian was still on morphine, but it was a much lower dose and he was finally feeling better every day. His lungs were almost clear and the bleeding had finally stopped completely so the doctors removed the last two drains from his back. The surgery sites in his chest and back were healing well enough that the thick bandages had been changed to simple gauze taped over the wounds. His lung capacity was so much lower than it used to be that Brian could still feel it when he talked, much less when he moved around, but he was finally allowed to sit up for short periods of time as long as he was careful.Brian was feeling much better in general by then, which was starting to be a problem. His energy was finally returning and he was back to his usual habit of not sleeping very much which led to him getting bored, and it didn't help that Dom and Tej were bored too. All three of them were used to having a very busy life, one that they enjoyed greatly, and spending all their time in a small hospital room with very little to do was getting old. Dom had surprised Brian and Tej by having books to read in his phone, but Tej got bored with reading quickly when he tried it and it was awkward for Brian to read while he was lying on his back in bed.They tried watching television out of sheer desperation, but there wasn't much on the hospital's limited cable that they really cared enough about to be distracted by it for long. The rest of the family tried to help, but there was just so much they could do while not only the boss but also two of their most sought-after mechanics weren't working at the garage. Brian and Dom were both usually busy from ten to six every day, either working together or separately, and they finished at least half a dozen cars in the course of a day, sometimes more. Tej worked in the garage too, of course, but not very often compared to the others, who all still gave him hell if he was on his feet too much.Jimmy and Suki were running things with Leon, Rome, Letty, and Julio backing them up, all of them working overtime to keep the garage on track. Even with the extra hours in the garage, though, the family made time to visit the hospital when they could. Most of them came by in the evenings, but Kali had more free time and was there much of the afternoon most days. She had been working for Tej since she got her computer programming degree, paid by the hour whenever she wanted to make herself useful around the garage, but mostly she was just hanging out there with her friends. She spent much more time truly working on days there was a car needing computer work, but that didn't happen often.Mostly Kali's time was her own, and with Brian in the hospital that meant she was there every day. He was her favorite person, followed closely by Jimmy, Suki, Tej, and Dom in pretty much that order of preference. Over the last six months Kali had often spent half her day hanging out with Brian and Dom or with Jimmy, passing them tools while they worked and talking with them about what they were doing. The others had joked often that she was going to end up a decent mechanic herself one day, and it was really pretty likely. She hadn't set out to become a mechanic, of course, but she was often able to pass them tools before they asked for them anyway, sure of what was needed next.The fact Brian was in the hospital didn't keep Kali from hanging out with him. She was a good distraction for Brian, Tej, and Dom, always full of gossip about their friends and happy to spend hours talking about anything and everything. She treated all three of them like her big brothers, which suited them just fine. They all adored Kali and considered her family, which was part of why Brian's records listed her as his baby sister. She could often be found curled up next to whoever was on the second bed in Brian's room, which was usually occupied just because it was more comfortable than the two chairs.Suki was there for hours every day too, but she was needed at the garage during business hours more than Kali was. She seemed to be enjoying running the office side of things and was handling almost everything Tej usually did, keeping paperwork done, finding parts, and even arranging the race meets three nights a week for the street racing crowd that kept them all in business. Tej, Brian, and Dom worried a little that she would push herself too hard, but she seemed to enjoy having so much more to do with the garage. She did finally go to a doctor and confirm that she was pregnant, but she still hadn't told anyone other than Tej, Brian, Dom, and Kali. Rick knew too, he had been there when Brian accidentally told Tej, but Suki didn't know that and the others were glad to leave it that way.Kali had been staying with Suki while Tej was at the hospital with Brian, so they usually left together at nine every night when visiting hours were technically over. The nurses would let Rick in after that because they knew he was a homicide detective and often couldn't be there during visiting hours, but usually it was just Brian, Dom, and Tej in the room at night. The three of them spent a lot of time talking when they were alone, usually with Dom and Tej sitting on Brian's bed on either side of his feet so Brian could relax and still see them both easily.There wasn't much that Brian didn't know about Tej or Dom, but when Brian was shot there had still been things Dom and Tej didn't know about each other. Once Brian was awake and able to talk more, he had enjoyed getting them started talking and then just sitting and watching them. Spending so much time together had brought Tej and Dom much closer to each other than they used to be. They shared a bed every night after Brian got out of ICU, and Dom had often held Tej to reassure him, but the feelings that developed between them over the course of that long, worry-filled month in the hospital had nothing to do with sex. They had always gotten along well, but the more time they spent together and the more they talked, the more they realized they truly shared. Their family accepted how devoted they both were to Brian, but nobody else really understood it the way they understood each other.By the time Brian had been in the hospital for a month there had been a shift in Dom and Tej's relationship that everyone noticed, though only Suki actually commented on it. Being taken care of by anyone but Brian had always been hard for Tej, especially after the accident that had forced him to rely on other people for months, but it didn't bother him anymore when Dom did it. Dom treated Tej almost the same as he did Brian, affectionate and gentle and often amused by him, and Tej had finally relaxed into the idea of letting Dom take care of him. Suki had surprised Tej by telling Dom and Brian one day that she was glad to finally have someone else who could help take care of Tej, who tried so hard not to ever let Suki know when he needed taken care of. She had always relied on Brian to take care of Tej for her, often without her even knowing he needed it, and she was grateful to have Dom helping him.Brian was weaned off morphine five weeks after he was shot, almost to the day. Dr Julian examined him thoroughly the next day and then finally removed the IV and cleared him to sleep with Dom and even have sex if they were careful, thoroughly embarrassing Brian. Tej had offered to give Brian and Dom a little privacy a few times afterwards, teasing mostly, but Brian hadn't even considered it. Brian had already had more than enough of people that weren't Dom or Tej seeing him naked and there was no lock on the door to Brian's hospital room. Nurses walked in on them whenever they felt like it, randomly peeking in at all hours of the day or night, and Brian wasn't even tempted to risk giving them an eyeful.Laying on his right side didn't instantly hurt for Brian so after the doctor finally gave Brian permission he and Dom had tried to sleep together a few times, but it didn't go well. They had to sleep on their sides because the bed wasn't really intended for two, but they had been able to get comfortable and relax which was wonderful after weeks of sleeping apart. The only problem was that Brian couldn't stay comfortable on his side. Brian fell asleep in Dom's arms happy and feeling like everything was finally right with his world again, and then an hour or two later the pain got to a level that it woke him up. It took a lot of pain to wake Brian, who was used to hurting by then, which led to it being agonizing to move and lay on his back again to wait for the pain to subside. After the fourth try, Dom refused to try sleeping together again until they were home.Bright and early one morning about a week after the IV was removed, Brian was hauled off for x-rays again, this time in a wheelchair instead of on a stretcher. The last of his stitches and bandages were removed while his doctor was examining him afterwards, and she was all smiles about the way Brian was healing as she grilled Tej and Dom about how he had been doing. The broken bones in Brian's ribs and shoulder were all knitting well so he was in a lot less pain even though he was completely off all pain medications except for the occasional Tylenol 4. His lung capacity was still very low on the left side and he wasn't allowed to do much because of it, but x-rays of his lungs were finally clear and he was allowed to walk around as long as he went slowly and was careful not to do too much. He still wasn't supposed to use the left arm because of the muscle damage and had to wear a sling for it, but the doctor had scheduled for him to begin rehab soon.When Dr Julian ended the exam by telling Brian he could go home, Brian surprised them all by kissing her soundly. ~*~*~ The only thing worse than the boredom of being stuck in a hospital room for over a month had been having to eat hospital food. Their family brought in real food when they could, but it was against hospital policy so most of the nurses wouldn't allow them to bring anything in.When Tej called and told Jimmy that Brian had been released, Jimmy was glad to drive the Mustang to the hospital for them. Jimmy had spent his free time on her that first week while Brian was still sedated, giving him a distraction that he badly needed from worrying about his brothers after he overheard Brian's doctor tell Rick how Brian was really doing. Jimmy happened to be in the ICU waiting room with Rick when Dr Julian admitted to Rick that Brian was bleeding internally and it was getting worse, but she was trying to stabilize him as much as possible before they attempted surgery again. She had given Brian just a forty percent chance of survival, and Jimmy had worried for weeks afterwards that they would lose Brian and it would kill Tej and Dom both.Working on the Mustang was the distraction Jimmy needed after that when he ran out of cars to work on. The front and back windshields had been shattered the night Brian was shot, as was the driver's side window, and bullets had torn up the driver's seat and the back seat behind it. Finding the replacement glass was easy, but actually replacing them took longer because he didn't want to damage the Mustang's paint or the chrome trim. He had worked slowly and carefully, heating up the seals on the windshield with a heat gun and removing them an inch at a time, then replacing them and putting in the new glass. When he had done both windshields he moved on to the side window, which went much faster because he just had to remove the door panel and then replace the glass.Repairing the leather seats had taken the most work. Doing the job right meant pulling the seats out of the car and clipping the wires underneath that held the leather in place and then carefully removing the leather from the seats. Jimmy had been surprised to find the leather had been altered by hand to fit the Mustang perfectly, and when he asked Rick about it, Rick had told him Brian had spent days on the leather seats when he restored the Mustang. Jimmy hadn't minded taking out the damaged panels and doing the stitching to repair them himself, careful to match what Brian had done before exactly, and then he repaired the seat padding before he stretched the leather back over the seats and replaced the wires that held it in place.When Brian and Dom left the hospital, they were both glad to see the Mustang waiting for them in the parking lot. Brian wasn't allowed to use his left arm so he couldn't drive, but he was still grinning wide and happy while Dom drove her. Jimmy and Tej were in the back seat and they teased Dom and Brian about how glad they were to hear the Mustang's engine rumble again, even though they understood. Brian and Dom both loved the Mustang dearly, even joked she was the third person in their marriage sometimes, and they were grateful Jimmy had gotten her perfect again for them. Neither of them had even seen the damage to her, but they knew from talking to Kali that bullets had torn up the seats and busted out most of the windows.The rest of the family met them at Brian's favorite restaurant for an early dinner. Tej, Rome, and Letty teased Brian about his choice, of course, they always did, but he didn't care as he walked with them all towards a big family booth in the back. Brian ended up in the back of the booth because he wanted to be able to see everyone and then the others all crowded in around him. Dom was on Brian's left and cut up his steak without even asking if Brian wanted him to, earning himself a sweet little smile, while Suki was on Brian's right between Brian and Tej. Letty was next to Dom with Rome and then Leon next to her, and on the other side of the table Kali and Jimmy were next to Tej with Rick in a chair he pulled up to the table because he was late arriving.The meal was the first time the family had really all been together since the Sunday before Brian was shot and Brian nudged Suki a few times during the meal, giving her a little encouraging smile. She finally gave in and told everyone about the baby, and a happy family meal turned into a full-blown party with Suki beaming at how happy everyone was for her and Tej. There was a lot of good-natured teasing too, of course. They had to give Tej and Suki a little guff about getting pregnant unexpectedly, though they mostly behaved themselves because it was a public place. The teasing would have been much more graphic at home.The family might have stayed there half the night cheerfully talking and enjoying themselves if Brian hadn't run out of energy. He tried to hide it, but Dom saw right through him pretty quickly and declared it was time to move the party back home so Brian could get some rest. Everyone was quick to agree and soon they were all in their cars heading back to the garage except for Rick, who went home for the night. Letty took the lead in the Spyder with Rome next to her and Kali and Jimmy in the back, followed by Leon in the Skyline and then Suki in her little Honda with Tej while the Mustang brought up the rear.Dom was driving the Mustang with Brian in the passenger seat again, and he kept sneaking glances at Brian with a slight frown. Brian had relaxed back into the seat and closed his eyes the moment they were in the car, no longer trying to hide how tired he was, and Dom could tell he was hurting. Brian had laughed more than he should while they were with the family and Dom was sure his chest was more than a little painful. Laughing still took more air than Brian's left lung really wanted to let him have, and he had caught Brian wincing more than once.They were at a stoplight more than halfway back to the garage when Dom finally murmured, "You need a pain pill.""Had one earlier," Brian admitted, finally opening his eyes as he looked towards Dom with a wry little smile. "I've just been doing too much. I'll be okay.""Yeah, you will," Dom agreed. "But you're still gonna go to bed when we get home."Brian made a face but didn't argue. "At least we'll be home, not in that damn hospital room. I can't wait to be back in our own bed with no chance some nurse hoping for an eyeful will wander in." Several nurses had said they wanted to help take care of him right from the start, teasing that it would be a bright spot in their day, and he was very sure that they had checked on him so often just hoping to see something.Dom chuckled softly, looking back at the road to follow Suki's Honda as it pulled away in front of them. "It'll be nice, for sure.""It's crazy that we've been in that little room together for over a month and I still missed you," Brian admitted quietly a few minutes later, making Dom look at him again."If it is, we're both crazy," Dom pointed out, smiling.Brian let out a little snort of a laugh. "I don't think us being crazy is gonna surprise anyone that knows us."Dom laughed. "Not even a little."They reached the garage a few moments later and pulled into the lot, and they were surprised to see their bay was occupied. There was no room to park the Mustang in it anymore so Dom parked next to it, and then he and Brian just stared at their bay for a few moments. The Mustang's usual spot at the front of the bay now held a big soft-looking loveseat situated so it had a good view of both the Camaro and the rest of the garage. There was a table like the one that had been in Brian's hospital room next to it, and several of the folding chairs they used for events like Race Wars were leaning against the workbench nearby. The family obviously expected Brian to want to spend a lot of time in the garage with them while they worked, but they wanted him to be comfortable, too.Dom looked at Brian after a few moments, smiling as he reached over to rest his hand on Brian's knee and murmured, "You gotta love them.""I really do," Brian agreed, smiling back. "That thing looks like it might even be big enough for both of us.""If it's not, you can just sit in my lap," Dom said with a little smirk. "I think we'd both enjoy that anyway."Brian grinned. "We're not allowed to do that in public, remember?" They had gotten teased often because Brian just could not sit in Dom's lap without it leading to more. It was completely impossible for them."If they don't wanna watch, they can shut the bay and go find somewhere else to be," Dom replied, still smirking.Brian laughed softly, not much more than a quiet little huff. "I should probably argue with that idea, but I've been looking forward to getting you alone for weeks ."Tej leaned against Brian's side of the Mustang then to look into the car at Brian, looking amused. "If you wanna be alone, you might want to get out of the car, baby boy. The main bay isn't exactly private at eight in the evening."Brian blushed slightly. "Nowhere in the garage is."Dom chuckled and patted Brian's knee as he said, "The way you were running out of steam at the restaurant, baby, you should get some rest ." Brian looked at him, bemused, and Dom smirked as he added, "And I bet I can make sure you fall asleep pretty fast.""I bet you can too," Brian agreed, grinning at the idea.Tej snickered. "So go get laid and get some sleep.""I do love how you think," Dom agreed as he moved to get out of the Mustang, tucking the keys into his pocket.Tej laughed and opened the passenger door of the Mustang for Brian, who didn't waste any time moving to get out as he said sheepishly, "I am kind of tired."Tej snorted, closing the door of the Mustang as soon as Brian was clear of it. "Kind of my ass, I saw you when you got to the car. You're good at hiding it, but you're beat and you're hurting.""Maybe," Brian admitted. The others were all standing nearby and he looked around at them, not really surprised to see them all looking concerned. He knew he had worried them a lot recently and that they wanted to spend time with him to reassure themselves he really was okay. He would have wanted to do the same if it had been any of them who were hurt and sick for so long. "I just feel bad leaving everyone already.""You'll have weeks to sit around talking with us before you can play again," Kali said firmly.Letty added quickly, "And we all know you need to rest, you lost half a lung and you've been doing too much tonight.""Not half," Brian argued. "Thirty percent.""I bet it don't feel like thirty percent right now," Rome said pointedly, and Brian looked over at him, a little sheepish because it was true. "That's what I thought. Don't make me carry your Twinkie ass out there.""I can carry him myself, Rome," Dom pointed out with a smile, walking around the Mustang to stand by Brian.Brian laughed softly, wincing a little. "I can walk that far, damn. G'night everyone." He was a little surprised that everyone moved to hug him, but he was glad, too. He had missed them and had wanted to hug them all when he saw them at the restaurant, he just didn't want to ask for it.A few minutes later Dom was following Brian through their bedroom door, murmuring softly, "You can stop with the act now, baby."Brian gave Dom a sheepish little smile. "You know me too well.""It's my job," Dom said softly, "but don't think you got it past Tej either.""Not even close," Tej said firmly, following them into the room and making them both turn to look at him in surprise. He had Dom's duffle and the bag the hospital had given Brian with the medications he still had to take. Brian's pneumonia had ended up in both lungs and then kept relapsing just when it started to seem like he was getting better, which was why he was in the hospital so long. Dr Julian had refused to let him leave until she was completely sure his lungs had healed, and she still had him on antibiotics and two medications to help keep his lungs clear. "You forgot the meds.""I was gonna go back after them once I made him strip and lie down," Dom said, smiling quickly at Tej before he looked back at Brian and added, "Which he's going to do immediately."Brian meekly sat on the foot of the bed and started to unbutton his shirt with his right hand. "I'm stripping, see?" He had stolen one of Dom's button-front work shirts the moment the doctor agreed he could wear real clothes again and forget about the gown he had hated so much, and he was still wearing them. Putting on a t-shirt was beyond his shoulder still, and there wasn't enough extra room in his own work shirts to easily maneuver his arm into them by himself, but Dom's shirts were big enough. Dom and Tej didn't mind helping him and took care of him better than he took care of himself, but he didn't like needing taken care of."I saved you a trip," Tej said with a smile, moving to drop the duffle in the papasan chair Brian liked to curl up in sometimes when he couldn't sleep. He walked over to put the bag of meds on the bedside table, adding, "And I need your keys, Dom. Suki has mine in her purse and it's at home.""You need to move the car?" Dom asked, already pulling the keys out of his pocket to pass them over to Tej.Tej accepted the keys, nodding. "Yeah, I'm gonna put her in the wash rack where we can lock her up. The contractor's still not done with the extension, the doors aren't working right yet over there and I know we'll all feel better with her locked up at night."Tej had bought the property next to the garage months ago to tear down the decrepit old laundromat there and build a large enclosed garage that looked more like a showroom where they could park the family's personal cars, which kept multiplying. The new garage was just the other side of the big main bay with a covered awning between the two and a second story that was still empty because they hadn't decided yet what to do with it, but it seemed to be taking forever for the contractor to get it finished. Tej had hired the same company that built the garage, but the company was sold right after the contract was signed and the new owner wasn't as dedicated or as reliable as the previous one."Definitely," Dom agreed. There had seldom been anyone caught in the garage's open bay when they weren't supposed to be, but part of that was likely because they never left anything truly tempting out there. The tool chests were all bolted to support posts and locked up at night, and the only cars they left parked in there were ones that nobody in the family would be heartbroken to lose. The Mustang definitely didn't fall into that category."Who's idea was the couch in our bay?" Brian asked, making them both look at him again. He had shrugged out of the sling he wore and was starting to take off the unbuttoned shirt, careful not to move his shoulder too far.Dom moved to the bed and helped Brian with the shirt, and Tej moved over so Brian could still see him past Dom as he said, "Suki said that it was Kali's idea, but Jimmy and Leon were the ones to find that thing." He grinned at Brian, adding, "It's a giant recliner."Dom just snickered, shaking his head as he tossed the shirt towards the empty hamper on the other side of the bed.Brian let out a strangled little laugh, surprised. "You're kidding.""Nope," Tej said quickly, amused. "It's got a remote to put the foot up and down or lean it back, and Suki says it's really comfortable. She tried it out with Jimmy and Kali to make sure there was plenty of room for both of you, and then she ordered another one for our house because she likes it so much."Brian had to fight not to laugh, looking at Dom. "Sounds like you weren't the only one thinking it looks big enough to share."Dom smirked, kneeling by Brian's feet to reach for his shoes. "Great minds think alike, baby.""Especially when they haven't gotten laid in weeks," Tej added, grinning. "Speaking of, you two enjoy. I'm heading out early, too. Suki and I missed each other.""Have fun," Dom said easily, smiling at Tej as he tugged one of Brian's shoes off and set it aside."Yeah, we'll see you at breakfast," Brian added, smiling happily.Tej moved to kiss Brian's forehead, then murmured, "Don't overdo it, baby boy.""I promise," Brian agreed quietly, still smiling. "G'night.""G'night," Tej echoed, smiling at Brian and then leaning to kiss the top of Dom's head before he headed for the door. "Night Dom.""Good night," Dom replied, amused. He tucked Brian's shoe under the end of the bed with the other one, then put his hands on Brian's knees and just knelt there between his feet a moment, looking up at him. He didn't let his gaze linger on Brian's chest, even though he couldn't help notice again the scar on Brian's chest that had taken part of his tattoo. It was still obvious it was a heart and Dom's name was still there, but part of the side of the heart had been replaced by the pink, shiny skin of a jagged scar that still looked a little inflamed.Dom brought his gaze up to Brian's face and he wasn't surprised to see Brian looked tired, just sitting there and breathing slowly as he looked into Dom's eyes. "How are you really feeling, baby?" Dom asked softly after a few moments, lifting one hand to Brian's cheek.Brian leaned into Dom's touch, relaxing a little more. "Sore." He smiled wryly. "I never thought I'd wish our family wasn't so much fun."Dom chuckled softly and lifted up onto his knees in front of Brian as he murmured, "They say laughter's the best medicine, baby."Brian leaned closer to kiss Dom lovingly, then pulled away after a few moments to admit softly, "My lung doesn't agree. It feels kind of like a pulled muscle. Every time I breathe a little too deep, it aches."Dom ran his fingers through Brian's hair, smiling softly at the way Brian closed his eyes and leaned into his touch as he said gently, "Sounds like you should be in bed, mi vida.""I am in bed," Brian replied, opening his eyes to give Dom an inviting little smile. "I'm even half naked."Dom smirked slightly. "Half is better than nothing." His kissed Brian again, slow and deep, lingering until Brian had to pull away to take another breath. He could tell that it hurt a little, the lines around Brian's eyes deepening even though he tried hard not to wince, and Dom didn't stop to consider it before he murmured, "I'm starting to think kissing much might be a bad idea tonight, baby."Brian made a face and then sighed. "But I want to.""I know," Dom agreed with a soft little smile, "but I don't like you hurting because of me, remember?""It's not because of you," Brain said, surprised."If I wasn't here, you'd be stretched out asleep by now," Dom pointed out, smiling still."Stretched out maybe, but not asleep," Brian corrected, a little amused. He reached for Dom's hand, moving it to his lap so Dom could feel the erection that was surprisingly well hidden by Brian's loose Dockers. "There's only one way that's going away tonight. I've been waiting to get a little privacy for weeks."Dom smiled a little wider. "Gonna play with or without me, huh?" Brian nodded, giving Dom a wicked little grin he knew well, and Dom smirked slightly as he stroked his fingertips lightly along Brian's cock through his pants. "Well, you know how I hate leaving you alone...""Yeah, I'm not crazy about that plan either," Brian agreed, still grinning. "Besides, someone promised to remind me how much he loves me when we got home in our own bed. I've been looking forward to it."Dom had to fight not to laugh as he moved his hands to start to unbutton his shirt. "What if I love you enough not to let you hurt yourself?""We can be careful," Brian said easily, reaching out with his right hand to slowly trace the tattoo on Dom's chest as soon as it was revealed. "Take our time."Dom smiled and leaned to kiss Brian again as he shrugged out of the shirt and then moved his hands to Brian's waist. He pulled away slightly after only a few moments and murmured, "Make you lie back and let me take care of you.""I could be persuaded," Brian agreed with a smile, his blue eyes warm and sparkling. He kissed Dom again, sucking gently at Dom's full lower lip before he pulled away to give Dom that wicked little grin Dom loved so much. "You're good at making me like doing what I'm told."Dom moved his hands to Brian's belly, moving closer as he unbuckled Brian's belt and then started to unbutton Brian's Dockers. "If I'm persuading you, baby, you need to be a lot more naked.""So do you," Brian pointed out before he kissed Dom again.Dom chuckled slightly into the kiss, lingering only a few moments before he pulled away to start trailing kisses down Brian's throat and chest. He took his time, enjoying the taste of Brian's skin as he started to ease Brian's Dockers and boxers down over his hips, and then Brian grabbed Dom's shoulder and lifted up off the bed a little to make it easier for him. The movement put the tattoo on Brian's chest suddenly at eye level and Dom got a closer look than he really wanted at the freshly healed scar as he pushed Brian's Dockers and boxers down to pool around his ankles.Brian sat back down on the edge of the bed and then Dom kissed the scar, soft and careful, and Brian moved his right hand to the back of Dom's neck as he murmured, "Hey, I'm okay."Dom lifted his head to meet Brian's gaze, his dark eyes a little sad even though he smiled as he murmured, "Not yet, but you will be." He kissed Brian softly, lingering a few moments, then looked into Brian's eyes again as he added, "For now, you're going to have to let me take care of you.""I know," Brian agreed quietly. "I won't argue." He smiled softly as he moved his hand to Dom's jaw, his blue eyes gentle and full of love. "For now, anyway."Dom smiled. "We'll worry about tomorrow later.""Good plan," Brian murmured with a smile, and then they were kissing again. ~ End