Family Ties (Brian/Dom)
Title: FamilyTies 1/1 (TFATF/Brothers & Sisters Crossover)
Author: blackberry belle chase65
Rating: PG
Pairing: Brian/Dom, canon Walker pairing
Warnings: AU, Crossover
Feedback: Always greatly appreciated
Disclaimer: Clearly these characters are not mine.
Summary: Forsmallfandomfest & x-posted. Brian finds out William Walker was his father. He's not sure what to do with the information.
Wordcount: 5827
A/N: This probably leans more heavily in favor of TFATF than Brothers & Sisters although I’m a pretty faithful watcher of B & S. If you’re not, you just need to know that family patriarch William Walker dropped dead unexpectedly of a heart attack and in the fallout his family discovered he’d fathered another child. The initial frontrunner turned out not to be the true illegitimate spawn. In canon, the real one has been found. And it’s a boy.
They'd tried to ignore it, but the knocking was insistent. Just loud enough and hard enough for them to be unable to ignore it. If one of them didn't get out of the bed to answer the front door, they'd have to at least get out of bed to shut the bedroom door to muffle the sound. The bottom line, someone was going to have to get up.
"Get the door," Dominic Toretto, voice ragged with sleep mumbled. His partner who wanted to hold onto sleep for as long as he possibly could, groaned and didn't move.
The steady knocking persisted.
"Brian." Realizing that there was no reclaiming his sleep, Brian O'Conner turned onto his back, never losing contact with Dom's hand as it shifted with him fluidly from the small of his back to nestle in the hair below his waist.
"Whose fault is it that they think this is a Spanish speaking household?"
"If your gringo non-hablaing ass gets the door, they won't make that mistake again." Brian's middle finger gave a lazy salute. The hand on him shifted downward with purpose.
"I'll make it worth your while."
"You're easy, Toretto."
"Only for you O'Conner."
At the front door of the O'Conner -Toretto home, Nora Walker continued to knock while her exasperated brother, Saul, looked on behind her.
"I think it's clear Nora. No one is home. I told you, you should have called."
"There are cars in the garage and this is not something that can be done over the phone."
"Certified letter then. And those cars look like show cars or something. They probably don't even have engines."
"Saul." She raised her hand to knock again and the door swung open, revealing a disheveled Brian in low slung boxer briefs . Saul, who had taken a step toward their car at the curb, turned back at the sound of the door opening and faltered.
“I told you,” Nora said without looking over her shoulder. "Hi," she smiled warmly and extended her hand.
"I'm Nora Walker and this is my brother Saul."
As he extended his own hand, Brian noted that they were both a little too casually dressed to be Jehovah's Witnesses. It was quality casual, he assessed as he shook. Both in jeans, but Brian suspected they were the pricey kind, good accessories. The man, Saul, wore a Phillipe Patek that flashed at Brian as he let go of the man's hand. He glanced at the woman's wrists, no watch, but her handbag was big, leather with a dangling tag on a chain.
"You're Brian O'Conner?"
"Depends."
Saul smirked behind her.
"Yes, right. Well, if we could just come in." Brian quirked his eyebrow and just looked at her. Cons came in all shapes and sizes.
"You should know I'm a cop."
"Yes, the private investigator mentioned that."
"I beg your pardon."
"Good Lord, Nora." Saul stepped past his sister. "Mr. O'Conner what my sister is trying to get to, badly, is that she has information about your father that she would like to share with you."
"My father is dead."
"Yes, yes.” Nora piped in as she rung her hands. "Saul is right. I'm not doing this very well. I have reason to believe that my late husband, William Walker, he died two years ago, I believe he was your father. I hired a private investigator to find you. May we come in?"
If they were cons, they were bad ones Brian thought. Any cursory search would have shown his biological father had died before he was born. And if they knew he was a cop...He gave them the once over again. They weren't strapped and he could easily take either one of them. And of course there was the secret weapon in his bedroom. He could humor them, set them straight if their intentions really were on the up and up. This Walker guy might have a son, but Brian wasn't him. He grinned and stepped back.
"Sure come on in."
**********************************
Dom stretched, fingers brushing the cool sheets beside him. The sensation was wrong to his touch. "Brian," he murmured. He roused himself to look at the clock. It was two o’clock in the afternoon. Brian had two days off and they were trying to stay on his graveyard schedule. Up all night, sleep all day. He'd closed the garage for two days so he could spend this time with O'Conner.
Forcing himself out of bed, he stumbled into the bathroom to relieve his bladder. That done, Toretto stepped into a pair of boxers and went to look for the other man.
For a moment, he thought perhaps that Brian had gone out. The black out curtains in the living room were closed and it took his eyes an extra couple of seconds to adjust. And then he was able to make out Brian sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. He hesitated, waiting for Brian to clue in that he was there. But the other man didn’t move.
“Brian,” Dom said softly. The hands came away and the blond head turned towards him.
“Hey.“ It was too dark to make out the expression, but he’d been with the other man long enough to read his tone even in the shortest of words. Moving further into the living room, he eased up the dimmer switch on the wall just enough to see Brian's face.
His partner blinked at him for several seconds as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. What Toretto heard in the voice, he could clearly see etched on his face. He looked lost.
“Brian?”
There was no immediate response just an exhalation of air as he stared at Dom and dragged his fingers through his hair.
"My name isn't Brian.”
Toretto’s blood ran cold. Suddenly, he was transported to the side of the interstate four years before when he’d had to face the truth about who Brian Spilner really was.
When it all blew up, the Fed’s case was still largely circumstantial. They didn’t have the merchandise Dominic Toretto had been accused of stealing or the money he was believed to have made. The driver, with the shotgun, hadn’t filed a report so there was no independent record of what had happened that day on the interstate. He’d been arrested anyway on a weapons and reckless endangerment charges in connection with the Tran mess.
Officer Brian O’Conner had given a version of the truth that didn’t implicate Toretto or the rest of the team in the highjackings. It hadn’t made any sense to Dom at the time. And then Officer Brian O'Conner came to see him.
I would have let you go, echoed in Dom’s head from the meeting that had sent his life in the most unexpected direction four years ago. He'd been in a lot of pain from the collision with the semi. But other than a little 'field medicine' in the form of his dislocated shoulder being popped back into place, he hadn't received much more in the way medical attention.
Brian had palmed him several Tylenol as soon as he walked into the cell, right before he made his declaration. Toretto had swallowed the pills dry and waited. For the pills to work, for the man he'd known as Brian Spilner to make some sense.
I would have let you go. The voice had been pitched low for obvious reasons, but not low enough to hide the pain shot through it.
And he knew that despite his prior declarations, he would do the time. He'd had a bone deep need to know the other side of that pain. He'd done a year. What he had with Brian O'Conner now is what he'd found. If the last years between them had all been another set-up, a deeper cover -. For a moment there was nothing but white noise inside Dominic Toretto's head.
"Seems that my mother originally named me after my paternal grandfather. His first name was Paul. Paul William Walker. Then I guess she realized that wasn't going to make any difference, giving me that name, the family name. Apparently, my biological father wasn't in it for the long haul. Or, I guess - ," He shrugged.
"When I was three months old, she had the name on my birth certificate changed to Brian. She had a brother who died when he was sixteen, O'Conner's her maiden name. She always said my dad was an only child and there was no other family.”
It took Toretto a minute to realize that his world hadn't just come to an end for the third time in his life. To realize that his other half was hunched in on himself the way he did sometimes when a case was going wrong, when the good guys were losing.
There had been Jehovah's Witnesses at the door a couple of hours ago.
“What the hell happened?"
"The people at the door. There was a woman, Nora Walker. She said her husband, dead husband, William Walker was my biological father."
"And you believed her?"
“I called my mother right after they left. When I said his name, she just started crying. My mom's always been kind of hard. I’ve never heard or seen her cry. It was a pretty short conversation, but she verified the name change. I made an appointment for a test . And she, Nora Walker, the widow invited me to dinner a week from this Sunday. I have half-brothers and sisters.”
Dom reached out and stroked his hand through Brian's hair, let his fingers tangled, tightened in the curls. "You need me to do anything?"
"I don't know man, I -. I'm sitting here trying to wrap my head around it. I did a quick search and there were so many links on this guy. I -.
"Okay, Okay how about I make breakfast and then we'll take it from there. I'll drive you to the lab for your appointment."
"Yeah, thanks," Brian answered distractedly. Dom gave his hair a slight tug before heading into the kitchen.
********************************************
"Like parent's like son. I guess." Brian's hand was heavy and warm against Dom's scalp. Just the way he liked it so he tried to ignore the words and concentrate on what he was doing. And then unexpectedly the pressure and the heat were gone. Dom's head felt nothing, but the cool air that sometimes drafted through their bedroom. Reluctantly, he looked up from Brian's lap.
Sex always worked. The first three months they were together, they hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other, even when they'd been fighting. Angry sex with Brian O'Conner had been a revelation.
"Bri -"
The hand that was no longer palming Dom's head twitched on Brian's thigh, then lifted and traced the outline Dom's pre-ejaculate moist lips.
"I'm sorry." He pushed away from Dom, rolled out of the bed into the bathroom. Flipping over onto his back, as he heard the water go on in the bathroom, Dom blew out a frustrated sigh. His hand drifted into his boxers and tugged a couple of times before letting go. His own arousal flagging in the face of his concern about Brian. In the days following finding out who fathered him, O'Conner would randomly blurt out things as if they had been in the middle of a conversation.
Would you walk away from your son?
How could she not tell me?
They struggled, my stepfather and my mom. It's not like he couldn't afford the child support. Deadbeat, motherfucker.
No way can I go to that dinner.
In the three years they'd been together, and the four he'd known him, Brian had managed not to say a helluva lot about his family. Dom thought maybe this situation was an opening, but he wasn't sure exactly what to do with it. There were files on Brian's desk with pictures of the people Dom believed were his half-siblings. No real talking, just outbursts and files as though he was working on a case. When he wasn't blurting out random things, he was staring at the pictures.
I think I'm the oldest son. It's kind of freaky.
I think I'm gonna go to the dinner. Will you come with me?
*****************************************
"Hey, I'm Justin." Justin, the war hero, Brian thought as the other man grinned openly and extended his hand. "This is my girlfriend Rebecca," he said indicating a sort of generically pretty blonde walking beside him. Rebecca shook his hand and gave it a slight extra squeeze before letting go. Dom's eyes narrowed slightly. Brian made his own introductions, "I'm Brian O'Conner, this is Dominic Toretto."
"Good call bringing a wingman," Justin grinned. "This is a sweet ride, you race?" The question was directed at Toretto who shifted his gaze from Rebecca just enough to look at Justin. "No, not anymore." His eyes drifted back to Rebecca and Brian, ignoring Justin as he traced the sleek outlines of the Supra. The special occasion car.
"I bet there's some incredible shit under this hood. I'd love to see it up close."
Dom glanced over his shoulder at the car and caught Justin flick his gaze from Rebecca to him. Oh, Dom thought. For some reason they were trying to draw him away from Brian. He noticed as he turned his head back, Rebecca was standing a little closer to Brian than seemed necessary.
Something was obviously up. Toretto went with it. No use causing as scene before they even got into the house.
"You into racing," Dom asked as he stepped toward Justin.
"No, No. Well I don't know." Justin shrugged and there was that grin again. And Dom grinned back. "I haven't really figured out exactly what I'm into."
The slight tension in Dom's shoulders and his hesitation before stepping toward the Supra didn't go unnoticed by his partner. His half-brother, Justin and that was weird in O'Conner's head, obviously wanted to leave him with this girl, the girlfriend.
With Dom drawn into car talk, Rebecca again smiled brightly with soft eyes and said, "I use to be you."
Brian had been expecting something. It hadn't been that.
"A couple years ago. I was you. My mother -" She glanced quickly at the house and shrugged. "My mother."
"But you and - " He tilted his head to include Justin, "are together."
Nora Walker had mentioned something about bad information that prevented them from finding him sooner, but as it seemed she was about to launch into an explanation, her brother had admonished her with a not now Nora.
"Yeah, we're together." she said softly. "Did you have a test done?"
"Yeah, yeah. I did, the same day that Nora Walker came to see me." It hadn't occurred to Brian that William Walker was a repeat offender.
"Good. Everyone just assumed and there was the picture. And my mom let everyone think he was the only possibility. I'm kind of not speaking to her right now."
"I get that. I'm sorry."
Hurt and loss flashed momentarily in her eyes.
"Don't be. It seems to have all worked out. Everybody is sure this time." She glanced at Justin who was listening intently to Toretto as he pointed out something under the hood. Running her hands absently through her hair, she looked at Brian again.
"You're a little older than I thought you'd be. I bet that's weird for my mom." Rebecca pointed her chin towards the house as she continued.
"They can be a little much, but I sort of made out with Sarah's husband and fell for my 'brother'," her easy smile turned wicked, "the husband's gone. I'm still here and Nora still invites me to dinner. You're lucky, I think they got all their yelling and freaking out over with with me."
****************************************************************
Fortunately, they sat for dinner almost immediately after the introductions. Nora Walker, at the head of the table with her brother Saul on one side and Brian on the opposite side across from him.. Next to Brian was the dark haired half-sister who had been more or less leering at Dom from the time he walked into the house. Across from her the blonde sister who moved her hands a lot when she talked as she was doing now to Brian about a book. Dom caught a snippet of what sounded like, "Be glad my mother tracked you down after I wrote the book."
Next to her were Rebecca and Justin and across from them, the dark haired gay brother and his husband. The other not gay dark haired brother was next to his brother-in-law and across from Dom. From his vantage point, Dom had a good view of Brian as he smiled at something his half-sister was punctuating by a vigorous shake of her head.
As serving trays were passed up and down the table, Dom noted that the food was semi-gourmet, without being outright pretentious, variations on the meals he'd eaten with his family, his team. His stomach clenched a the familiar sensation of loss. Mostly, he and Brian just picked up food.
“Hey, man tell Tommy about your shop,” Justin said enthusiastically as he passed the mashed potatoes which smelled like rosemary and garlic and reminded Dom of his mother. He scooped out a portion quickly and passed the bowl on quickly toward Brian’s end of the table.
Turning toward Tommy who looked genuinely interested, Dom began a quick rundown on his
set-up. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Justin nodding, grinning and for the first time Dom saw the Walker in Brian.
Telling Tommy Walker about his shop prompted the other man to tell him about Ojai Foods and Walker Landing. In the week leading to the dinner, despite the files, Brian hadn’t actually said anything about who these people were or what they did. Toretto hadn't wanted to overstep by trying to find out anything about them on his own. He’d figured from some of the blurted comments that O’Conner’s biological father might have been affluent, but he hadn’t been able to discern scope. Tommy Walker's sharing of his own business challenges gave Dom that scope. As he was taking it in -
"How did you two meet?" Not how long have you known each other which probably would have been more appropriate in reference to the wingman.
They hadn't decided to keep their relationship a secret, but they also had more or less agreed to go with don't tell unless asked. When the formal introductions were made before dinner, they’d only gotten what seemed to be a knowing look from Nora Walker's brother. The others assumed what Justin had in the driveway. Brian O'Conner had brought his wingman. Once Kevin and his husband were introduced, Toretto relaxed, a little. Until now.
Something was up.
Dom glanced briefly at the brother who wasn't Tommy or Justin. The smirk on the man’s face told him that he already knew the answer, the complete answer, to his own question. Toretto gripped his fork tighter against the surging desire to punch Brian's half-brother in the face.
The rest of the table, who knew the man much better than either he or Brian, quieted. There was very little sound save for the flatware hitting stoneware. Dom raised an eyebrow at Brian and waited for him to call the play..
O'Conner looked right back down the table at him, smiled the way he usually did when he saw Dom for the first time on any given day. The way he'd smiled when Dom walked out of the prison gates a free man. Heated, grateful, happy.
"We met on case."
The gay brother pressed. "Really? what kind of case? Murder?"
"Kevin," Nora Walker sputtered from her end of the table. "That's hardly appropriate subject matter for dinner."
"I'm just trying to get to know my big brother a little better," Kevin snarked as he took a sip from his glass of wine. His husband looked worried.
"No, it wasn't a murder case. I was undercover on case that I'm not at liberty to discuss."
"Hey, you're a cop too," Justin asked beaming at Dom with Brian's smile. "That's pretty cool man."
"No," Dom corrected, "Not a cop."
"Exactly the opposite actually," Kevin muttered under his breath.
"What," asked Kitty, “"What did you say?"
"I said that our half-brother's wingman is his felon boy toy."
"Boy toy. Wow. That's hot." the dark haired sister said as she lifted her wine glass and took a hearty swig.
“Sarah,” squealed Nora Walker, “Really Brian, I’m so sorry.”
"Wait, wait, wait a minute,” said the half-sister across from Brian as she pointed her finger and the shit stirring brother. “Is that why Robert's not here? Did you tell my husband not to come?"
I didn't tell Robert not to come." And apparently everyone around the table knew that was a lie as the all seemed to groan in unison.
From the husband, "Honey, you didn't. You really have no idea how to leave well enough alone."
"Oh come on. How am I the bad guy here? It's one thing to have some kind of Oz prison fantasy in the privacy of our bedroom," the husband blushed to his hairline.
"Oh, god too much information," Tommy croaked.
"It's another thing entirely," Kevin continued undaunted, "to play guess who's coming to dinner with it. He's a crooked cop and his boyfriend's an ex-con." Kevin finished smugly.
"KEVIN, THAT'S ENOUGH,." Nora shouted
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TOLD ROBERT NOT TO COME. AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME. HE DIDN'T TELL ME," Kitty bleated as she jabbed her fingers at Kevin.
Way to go Kevin," Justin marveled.
"Typical," Tommy muttered.
"You know mom never gets the entire story, always goes off half-cocked. I had access to information that the private eye wouldn’t have been able to get. I'm just looking out for this family. We have no idea," he jabbed his finger in Brian's direction, "who this guy is. And you can't tell me, Kitty, that if you were still Robert's Communications Director you wouldn't have advised him against showing up for dinner until you'd had a chance to scope out the situation."
Saul shook his head and cast an extremely disappointed look at his nephew and speculative look at Brian.
The yelling and raised voices were white noise to Dom. He and Letty had had louder, more physical throw downs. He and Vince had had their share back in the day once Brian Spilner was on the scene. He was able to let it all fade and whittle his focus to the one person at the table that mattered to him. He knew Brian was going to bolt the second before it happened.
"Excuse me," Brian said as he shoved his chair out from the table and was gone from the dining room with Dom up and after him. With a glare at her second son, Nora pushed herself away from the table and followed the two men. .
"BRIAN!" Dom shouted as he hit the front of the house, but Brian was already in the Supra and squealing away. The tires and roar of the engine were exceptionally loud in the quiet neighborhood.
The silence after seemed deafening in contrast.
"You must think we're awful people." Nora said quietly beside him.
Toretto stared in the direction the Supra had taken for several seconds without saying anything. In the first year, some of his and Brian’s worst fights ended with one of them burning rubber away from the house. It was a welcome alternative to a knock down drag out fight. They'd both been schooled, like most boys were, that punching another guy out was manly. Dom has had the extra layer of prison time to cement that and Brian, his work as a cop. Neither of them had been schooled on what to do when the guy you wanted to clock was the same one that made you come apart, in the very best sense, in ways you didn't know you could.
Driving away was the lesser of two evils. Although, it wasn't anger he'd seen in Brian's eyes. It had been dismay.
Dom turned to look Nora Walker in the eye. Her brother Saul hovered just a few inches behind her.
"I know family is complicated. I also know it's good. I'm not really sure Brian does. I think he thinks family is something that you leave behind or that falls apart."
His eyes flick to the empty street.
"Aren't you his family," Nora asked more gently.
"To be with him, the way we are now, I had to leave my family. It kind of fell apart. He, it was my fault but -". Dom shrugged. He and Mia had repaired their relationship enough that she'd extended and open invitation for Dom to bring Brian along for their dinners together. To date O'Conner had always begged off, usually claiming work as an excuse. But each time he did, Dom saw a little of the dismay he'd seen minutes before flash in light blue eyes.
"We've been through some things together, life and death things. He knows I would never cut and run on him."
"I'm sorry Dominic."
"I have a sister, so I know what I've damaged and what I'm working to get back. I want this for him. I want him to have brothers and sisters, to know the good part of that. But, if this is some way to get revenge on your dead husband, bringing him into this....no one gets to use him like that or hurt him like that. If you had any idea what your son was going to do -. You and your whole dysfunctional clan will be sorry."
"Are you threatening my mother?"
"Calm down Kevin." Saul placed his body between his nephew's, his sister's and Dom's.
"I knew this was bad.”
"It's nothing bad Kevin. Mr. Toretto was just telling me how much he loves your brother."
"The dirty cop, give me a break."
“Go back in the house, you’ve done quite enough,” Saul said as he gripped his nephew by the forearms and turned him back in the direction of the house.
"This is priceless. Let go of me Saul." Dom laughed and took a step toward Kevin.
"You sure you want to take on the ex-con?"
"Kevin, go in the house. You and I will talk later."
"Mom -"
"If you want to continue to be welcome at this house, you need to go inside now honey."
"UNBELIEVABLE." Kevin yelled as he yanked himself out of his uncle's grip and stalked back into the house.
"Family," Nora sighed.
"Yeah," Dom agreed.
A half an hour later Brian pulled in front of the house and idled at the curb. Sitting on the front step, Dom drank a beer and waited. Brian had the audacity to blow the horn.
Dom stalked out to the curb and leaned into the passenger side of the car.
"Come on Toretto, let's go. I know I was an ass to take of without you, but let's go home now.
"No."
"No. What the hell do you mean no?"
"Don't act like a kid Brian. There are a couple of things you need to do before we go."
"Like what?"
"You gotta be kidding me. The first thing you’re going to do is go inside and apologize to Nora Walker. Your brother may be a dick - .”
Half-brother,” Brian spat.
“I’ll give you that. He's a dick, but what she’s trying to do, what she tried to do wasn't a bad thing. These people are your family.”
“You’re my family.”
“I am. And that’s why I’m not going to let you do this. Do you think it was easy, that it’s gotten any easier for Mia to hold onto me after what happened? If I called right now though and said that I needed her, in spite of everything, she would be here. Do you think it was easy for Nora Walker to seek out the son of the woman her husband cheated with and had a child with? Invite him to dinner. Do you think it's easy for her to realize that when her oldest son was born and she was beaming over the bastard's first boy, he'd already had his first boy with someone else?
Brian shut off the engine and pressed his face against the steering wheel.
"She sucked it up and did it because of her kids. The more people you have willing to do that for you the better. I might not always be around."
The blond head jerked up from the steering wheel.
"You need other people Brian. You need these people. I am not going to let you burn this bridge. You’ve got four other siblings. Sarah, the one with the dark brown hair, stopped staring at my ass long enough to show me pictures of her kids. You have a niece and nephew. There's one asshole in the bunch, that’s just the averages.”
O'Conner slammed out of the car.
“I can’t. I, I -.” He made a helpless gesture towards the house. "They’re all so…white, so clean. I have a half-brother in-law who’s a senator for god’s sake. A war hero -
"War hero, which one?"
"Justin."
"No shit."
"Yeah, no shit, a corporate attorney, Kitty wrote a book and…what I do, what I've done -. They were fighting about me.”
Dom reached suddenly and pulled him into his arms. “ What happened with the team, with Mia -” Brian stiffened against him. In four years they had never really talked about it.
"What happened with my sister and the team that has nothing to do with this. The Walkers are not going to fall apart because you're in their mists. And what you do, you're willing to take bullets for strangers. Why wouldn’t they want to call someone like that brother. And you know as soon as one of them gets a speeding ticket they’ll be calling you."
He was relieved to feel Brian relax against him and laugh.
"You want me to go in with you?"
"Um no. I already left you at their mercy. It's my turn now."
"You know it 's not like that. You want me in. I'm in."
"Yeah, I know. You might want to start the car again, in case we have to make a fast getaway."
Dom laughed. Brian leaned in and kissed his mouth. "I love you," he murmured before turning quickly and heading for the front door of Walker house.
Kitty accosted him in the living room, her index finger pointed at his face.
"You have every right to be mad at Kevin, every right. I am so mad at Robert now. I, I, I could. I don't even know what I could do right now. And of course I can't get Robert on the phone. It's so typical, I just - ." Her hands ended in a flail.
Brian interrupted before she could start again. " Where is everyone?"
"Uh, on the patio I think. We just skipped right to dessert."
"Still yelling."
"Not at the moment, it'll probably start again after dessert's gone."
"Then maybe I better get out there now. Um, which way."
"Oh, uh come on."
With Kitty in the lead, Brian followed through the living room to the kitchen to the patio door just to the side of the kitchen. Through the glass he could see an expansive patio illuminated with tea lights. And they were all there, despite the blow up at dinner. Kevin and his husband were on one of the chaises sitting back to front. Neither of them were talking. Justin and Rebecca were also on a chaise taking turns spooning something out of a shared bowl into each others mouths. Nora, Saul and Sarah were sitting around a huge picnic table quietly with their own bowls.
He swallowed down his discomfort and ignored the hard flutter in his stomach. He hadn't felt it before dinner. His half-siblings had already been reduced to faces with jackets in manila folders. He'd reduced them to perps before dinner and he'd been curious to match each one to his or her sheet.
He'd ignored the thing they had in common until now. We have the same father, he thought, who we can never ask what the hell he thought he was doing. We all have mothers with lives tainted by William Walker.
Everyone looked toward the patio doors as Kitty pushed them open. Kevin came up from his reclining position, fast glaring. His husband grabbed the tail of his t-shirt and held on. Brian ignored him, turning his full attention instead to Nora.
"I'd like to say something. It'll be quick."
"Nonsense," Nora said as she rose from her seat. "Let me get you a bowl of ice cream, homemade."
"No, really. I just would like to say a couple of things if that's okay?"
"Of course Brian." Nora sat.
"Four years ago I made mistakes on my first undercover case. Dominic Toretto is not one of those mistakes. But there are lives that will never be the same because of the way things went down. I own it. I live with it. I did the best that I could in a dangerous situation to save the life of someone that I love and the people he loves."
"Right on man," Justin said.
"And I am here now, not because I need or want anything that William Walker had," he turned his gaze to Kevin, "but because my partner seems to think it's important that I have brothers and sisters. He's obviously biased, but he's also the best part of me. Mrs. Walker, thank you for dinner. I apologize for my earlier rudeness. We're gonna go."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a card and took the necessary steps to hand it to Justin.
"That's Dom's card. If you want to visit the garage give him a call."
"Thanks man."
The smile he gave Brian was so bright, so grateful that when 'my little brother' echoed his head again it meant something. He had a younger brother.
"I've got some more ideas, about what Dom and I were talking about at dinner, about maximizing the garage's potential." Tommy chimed in behind him. Brian turned to look at his other, by a hair, younger brother. Part of what Dom had said to him minutes earlier clicked. The flutter subsided.
"Thanks man, I'll let him know. He'd probably appreciate having someone who doesn't stare at him blankly when he talks about balance sheets and who has business sense to bounce ideas off."
"Ditto." Tommy grinned.
"I have business sense, " Sarah said indignantly.
"Yeah," Brian said as he walked toward the patio doors, "but of the two of you, I think Tommy is the only one I can trust won't molest Dom. 'Night all."
With the sound of Walker laughter in his ears, he left.
Fin
Author: blackberry belle chase65
Rating: PG
Pairing: Brian/Dom, canon Walker pairing
Warnings: AU, Crossover
Feedback: Always greatly appreciated
Disclaimer: Clearly these characters are not mine.
Summary: Forsmallfandomfest & x-posted. Brian finds out William Walker was his father. He's not sure what to do with the information.
Wordcount: 5827
A/N: This probably leans more heavily in favor of TFATF than Brothers & Sisters although I’m a pretty faithful watcher of B & S. If you’re not, you just need to know that family patriarch William Walker dropped dead unexpectedly of a heart attack and in the fallout his family discovered he’d fathered another child. The initial frontrunner turned out not to be the true illegitimate spawn. In canon, the real one has been found. And it’s a boy.
They'd tried to ignore it, but the knocking was insistent. Just loud enough and hard enough for them to be unable to ignore it. If one of them didn't get out of the bed to answer the front door, they'd have to at least get out of bed to shut the bedroom door to muffle the sound. The bottom line, someone was going to have to get up.
"Get the door," Dominic Toretto, voice ragged with sleep mumbled. His partner who wanted to hold onto sleep for as long as he possibly could, groaned and didn't move.
The steady knocking persisted.
"Brian." Realizing that there was no reclaiming his sleep, Brian O'Conner turned onto his back, never losing contact with Dom's hand as it shifted with him fluidly from the small of his back to nestle in the hair below his waist.
"Whose fault is it that they think this is a Spanish speaking household?"
"If your gringo non-hablaing ass gets the door, they won't make that mistake again." Brian's middle finger gave a lazy salute. The hand on him shifted downward with purpose.
"I'll make it worth your while."
"You're easy, Toretto."
"Only for you O'Conner."
At the front door of the O'Conner -Toretto home, Nora Walker continued to knock while her exasperated brother, Saul, looked on behind her.
"I think it's clear Nora. No one is home. I told you, you should have called."
"There are cars in the garage and this is not something that can be done over the phone."
"Certified letter then. And those cars look like show cars or something. They probably don't even have engines."
"Saul." She raised her hand to knock again and the door swung open, revealing a disheveled Brian in low slung boxer briefs . Saul, who had taken a step toward their car at the curb, turned back at the sound of the door opening and faltered.
“I told you,” Nora said without looking over her shoulder. "Hi," she smiled warmly and extended her hand.
"I'm Nora Walker and this is my brother Saul."
As he extended his own hand, Brian noted that they were both a little too casually dressed to be Jehovah's Witnesses. It was quality casual, he assessed as he shook. Both in jeans, but Brian suspected they were the pricey kind, good accessories. The man, Saul, wore a Phillipe Patek that flashed at Brian as he let go of the man's hand. He glanced at the woman's wrists, no watch, but her handbag was big, leather with a dangling tag on a chain.
"You're Brian O'Conner?"
"Depends."
Saul smirked behind her.
"Yes, right. Well, if we could just come in." Brian quirked his eyebrow and just looked at her. Cons came in all shapes and sizes.
"You should know I'm a cop."
"Yes, the private investigator mentioned that."
"I beg your pardon."
"Good Lord, Nora." Saul stepped past his sister. "Mr. O'Conner what my sister is trying to get to, badly, is that she has information about your father that she would like to share with you."
"My father is dead."
"Yes, yes.” Nora piped in as she rung her hands. "Saul is right. I'm not doing this very well. I have reason to believe that my late husband, William Walker, he died two years ago, I believe he was your father. I hired a private investigator to find you. May we come in?"
If they were cons, they were bad ones Brian thought. Any cursory search would have shown his biological father had died before he was born. And if they knew he was a cop...He gave them the once over again. They weren't strapped and he could easily take either one of them. And of course there was the secret weapon in his bedroom. He could humor them, set them straight if their intentions really were on the up and up. This Walker guy might have a son, but Brian wasn't him. He grinned and stepped back.
"Sure come on in."
**********************************
Dom stretched, fingers brushing the cool sheets beside him. The sensation was wrong to his touch. "Brian," he murmured. He roused himself to look at the clock. It was two o’clock in the afternoon. Brian had two days off and they were trying to stay on his graveyard schedule. Up all night, sleep all day. He'd closed the garage for two days so he could spend this time with O'Conner.
Forcing himself out of bed, he stumbled into the bathroom to relieve his bladder. That done, Toretto stepped into a pair of boxers and went to look for the other man.
For a moment, he thought perhaps that Brian had gone out. The black out curtains in the living room were closed and it took his eyes an extra couple of seconds to adjust. And then he was able to make out Brian sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. He hesitated, waiting for Brian to clue in that he was there. But the other man didn’t move.
“Brian,” Dom said softly. The hands came away and the blond head turned towards him.
“Hey.“ It was too dark to make out the expression, but he’d been with the other man long enough to read his tone even in the shortest of words. Moving further into the living room, he eased up the dimmer switch on the wall just enough to see Brian's face.
His partner blinked at him for several seconds as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. What Toretto heard in the voice, he could clearly see etched on his face. He looked lost.
“Brian?”
There was no immediate response just an exhalation of air as he stared at Dom and dragged his fingers through his hair.
"My name isn't Brian.”
Toretto’s blood ran cold. Suddenly, he was transported to the side of the interstate four years before when he’d had to face the truth about who Brian Spilner really was.
When it all blew up, the Fed’s case was still largely circumstantial. They didn’t have the merchandise Dominic Toretto had been accused of stealing or the money he was believed to have made. The driver, with the shotgun, hadn’t filed a report so there was no independent record of what had happened that day on the interstate. He’d been arrested anyway on a weapons and reckless endangerment charges in connection with the Tran mess.
Officer Brian O’Conner had given a version of the truth that didn’t implicate Toretto or the rest of the team in the highjackings. It hadn’t made any sense to Dom at the time. And then Officer Brian O'Conner came to see him.
I would have let you go, echoed in Dom’s head from the meeting that had sent his life in the most unexpected direction four years ago. He'd been in a lot of pain from the collision with the semi. But other than a little 'field medicine' in the form of his dislocated shoulder being popped back into place, he hadn't received much more in the way medical attention.
Brian had palmed him several Tylenol as soon as he walked into the cell, right before he made his declaration. Toretto had swallowed the pills dry and waited. For the pills to work, for the man he'd known as Brian Spilner to make some sense.
I would have let you go. The voice had been pitched low for obvious reasons, but not low enough to hide the pain shot through it.
And he knew that despite his prior declarations, he would do the time. He'd had a bone deep need to know the other side of that pain. He'd done a year. What he had with Brian O'Conner now is what he'd found. If the last years between them had all been another set-up, a deeper cover -. For a moment there was nothing but white noise inside Dominic Toretto's head.
"Seems that my mother originally named me after my paternal grandfather. His first name was Paul. Paul William Walker. Then I guess she realized that wasn't going to make any difference, giving me that name, the family name. Apparently, my biological father wasn't in it for the long haul. Or, I guess - ," He shrugged.
"When I was three months old, she had the name on my birth certificate changed to Brian. She had a brother who died when he was sixteen, O'Conner's her maiden name. She always said my dad was an only child and there was no other family.”
It took Toretto a minute to realize that his world hadn't just come to an end for the third time in his life. To realize that his other half was hunched in on himself the way he did sometimes when a case was going wrong, when the good guys were losing.
There had been Jehovah's Witnesses at the door a couple of hours ago.
“What the hell happened?"
"The people at the door. There was a woman, Nora Walker. She said her husband, dead husband, William Walker was my biological father."
"And you believed her?"
“I called my mother right after they left. When I said his name, she just started crying. My mom's always been kind of hard. I’ve never heard or seen her cry. It was a pretty short conversation, but she verified the name change. I made an appointment for a test . And she, Nora Walker, the widow invited me to dinner a week from this Sunday. I have half-brothers and sisters.”
Dom reached out and stroked his hand through Brian's hair, let his fingers tangled, tightened in the curls. "You need me to do anything?"
"I don't know man, I -. I'm sitting here trying to wrap my head around it. I did a quick search and there were so many links on this guy. I -.
"Okay, Okay how about I make breakfast and then we'll take it from there. I'll drive you to the lab for your appointment."
"Yeah, thanks," Brian answered distractedly. Dom gave his hair a slight tug before heading into the kitchen.
********************************************
"Like parent's like son. I guess." Brian's hand was heavy and warm against Dom's scalp. Just the way he liked it so he tried to ignore the words and concentrate on what he was doing. And then unexpectedly the pressure and the heat were gone. Dom's head felt nothing, but the cool air that sometimes drafted through their bedroom. Reluctantly, he looked up from Brian's lap.
Sex always worked. The first three months they were together, they hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other, even when they'd been fighting. Angry sex with Brian O'Conner had been a revelation.
"Bri -"
The hand that was no longer palming Dom's head twitched on Brian's thigh, then lifted and traced the outline Dom's pre-ejaculate moist lips.
"I'm sorry." He pushed away from Dom, rolled out of the bed into the bathroom. Flipping over onto his back, as he heard the water go on in the bathroom, Dom blew out a frustrated sigh. His hand drifted into his boxers and tugged a couple of times before letting go. His own arousal flagging in the face of his concern about Brian. In the days following finding out who fathered him, O'Conner would randomly blurt out things as if they had been in the middle of a conversation.
Would you walk away from your son?
How could she not tell me?
They struggled, my stepfather and my mom. It's not like he couldn't afford the child support. Deadbeat, motherfucker.
No way can I go to that dinner.
In the three years they'd been together, and the four he'd known him, Brian had managed not to say a helluva lot about his family. Dom thought maybe this situation was an opening, but he wasn't sure exactly what to do with it. There were files on Brian's desk with pictures of the people Dom believed were his half-siblings. No real talking, just outbursts and files as though he was working on a case. When he wasn't blurting out random things, he was staring at the pictures.
I think I'm the oldest son. It's kind of freaky.
I think I'm gonna go to the dinner. Will you come with me?
*****************************************
"Hey, I'm Justin." Justin, the war hero, Brian thought as the other man grinned openly and extended his hand. "This is my girlfriend Rebecca," he said indicating a sort of generically pretty blonde walking beside him. Rebecca shook his hand and gave it a slight extra squeeze before letting go. Dom's eyes narrowed slightly. Brian made his own introductions, "I'm Brian O'Conner, this is Dominic Toretto."
"Good call bringing a wingman," Justin grinned. "This is a sweet ride, you race?" The question was directed at Toretto who shifted his gaze from Rebecca just enough to look at Justin. "No, not anymore." His eyes drifted back to Rebecca and Brian, ignoring Justin as he traced the sleek outlines of the Supra. The special occasion car.
"I bet there's some incredible shit under this hood. I'd love to see it up close."
Dom glanced over his shoulder at the car and caught Justin flick his gaze from Rebecca to him. Oh, Dom thought. For some reason they were trying to draw him away from Brian. He noticed as he turned his head back, Rebecca was standing a little closer to Brian than seemed necessary.
Something was obviously up. Toretto went with it. No use causing as scene before they even got into the house.
"You into racing," Dom asked as he stepped toward Justin.
"No, No. Well I don't know." Justin shrugged and there was that grin again. And Dom grinned back. "I haven't really figured out exactly what I'm into."
The slight tension in Dom's shoulders and his hesitation before stepping toward the Supra didn't go unnoticed by his partner. His half-brother, Justin and that was weird in O'Conner's head, obviously wanted to leave him with this girl, the girlfriend.
With Dom drawn into car talk, Rebecca again smiled brightly with soft eyes and said, "I use to be you."
Brian had been expecting something. It hadn't been that.
"A couple years ago. I was you. My mother -" She glanced quickly at the house and shrugged. "My mother."
"But you and - " He tilted his head to include Justin, "are together."
Nora Walker had mentioned something about bad information that prevented them from finding him sooner, but as it seemed she was about to launch into an explanation, her brother had admonished her with a not now Nora.
"Yeah, we're together." she said softly. "Did you have a test done?"
"Yeah, yeah. I did, the same day that Nora Walker came to see me." It hadn't occurred to Brian that William Walker was a repeat offender.
"Good. Everyone just assumed and there was the picture. And my mom let everyone think he was the only possibility. I'm kind of not speaking to her right now."
"I get that. I'm sorry."
Hurt and loss flashed momentarily in her eyes.
"Don't be. It seems to have all worked out. Everybody is sure this time." She glanced at Justin who was listening intently to Toretto as he pointed out something under the hood. Running her hands absently through her hair, she looked at Brian again.
"You're a little older than I thought you'd be. I bet that's weird for my mom." Rebecca pointed her chin towards the house as she continued.
"They can be a little much, but I sort of made out with Sarah's husband and fell for my 'brother'," her easy smile turned wicked, "the husband's gone. I'm still here and Nora still invites me to dinner. You're lucky, I think they got all their yelling and freaking out over with with me."
****************************************************************
Fortunately, they sat for dinner almost immediately after the introductions. Nora Walker, at the head of the table with her brother Saul on one side and Brian on the opposite side across from him.. Next to Brian was the dark haired half-sister who had been more or less leering at Dom from the time he walked into the house. Across from her the blonde sister who moved her hands a lot when she talked as she was doing now to Brian about a book. Dom caught a snippet of what sounded like, "Be glad my mother tracked you down after I wrote the book."
Next to her were Rebecca and Justin and across from them, the dark haired gay brother and his husband. The other not gay dark haired brother was next to his brother-in-law and across from Dom. From his vantage point, Dom had a good view of Brian as he smiled at something his half-sister was punctuating by a vigorous shake of her head.
As serving trays were passed up and down the table, Dom noted that the food was semi-gourmet, without being outright pretentious, variations on the meals he'd eaten with his family, his team. His stomach clenched a the familiar sensation of loss. Mostly, he and Brian just picked up food.
“Hey, man tell Tommy about your shop,” Justin said enthusiastically as he passed the mashed potatoes which smelled like rosemary and garlic and reminded Dom of his mother. He scooped out a portion quickly and passed the bowl on quickly toward Brian’s end of the table.
Turning toward Tommy who looked genuinely interested, Dom began a quick rundown on his
set-up. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Justin nodding, grinning and for the first time Dom saw the Walker in Brian.
Telling Tommy Walker about his shop prompted the other man to tell him about Ojai Foods and Walker Landing. In the week leading to the dinner, despite the files, Brian hadn’t actually said anything about who these people were or what they did. Toretto hadn't wanted to overstep by trying to find out anything about them on his own. He’d figured from some of the blurted comments that O’Conner’s biological father might have been affluent, but he hadn’t been able to discern scope. Tommy Walker's sharing of his own business challenges gave Dom that scope. As he was taking it in -
"How did you two meet?" Not how long have you known each other which probably would have been more appropriate in reference to the wingman.
They hadn't decided to keep their relationship a secret, but they also had more or less agreed to go with don't tell unless asked. When the formal introductions were made before dinner, they’d only gotten what seemed to be a knowing look from Nora Walker's brother. The others assumed what Justin had in the driveway. Brian O'Conner had brought his wingman. Once Kevin and his husband were introduced, Toretto relaxed, a little. Until now.
Something was up.
Dom glanced briefly at the brother who wasn't Tommy or Justin. The smirk on the man’s face told him that he already knew the answer, the complete answer, to his own question. Toretto gripped his fork tighter against the surging desire to punch Brian's half-brother in the face.
The rest of the table, who knew the man much better than either he or Brian, quieted. There was very little sound save for the flatware hitting stoneware. Dom raised an eyebrow at Brian and waited for him to call the play..
O'Conner looked right back down the table at him, smiled the way he usually did when he saw Dom for the first time on any given day. The way he'd smiled when Dom walked out of the prison gates a free man. Heated, grateful, happy.
"We met on case."
The gay brother pressed. "Really? what kind of case? Murder?"
"Kevin," Nora Walker sputtered from her end of the table. "That's hardly appropriate subject matter for dinner."
"I'm just trying to get to know my big brother a little better," Kevin snarked as he took a sip from his glass of wine. His husband looked worried.
"No, it wasn't a murder case. I was undercover on case that I'm not at liberty to discuss."
"Hey, you're a cop too," Justin asked beaming at Dom with Brian's smile. "That's pretty cool man."
"No," Dom corrected, "Not a cop."
"Exactly the opposite actually," Kevin muttered under his breath.
"What," asked Kitty, “"What did you say?"
"I said that our half-brother's wingman is his felon boy toy."
"Boy toy. Wow. That's hot." the dark haired sister said as she lifted her wine glass and took a hearty swig.
“Sarah,” squealed Nora Walker, “Really Brian, I’m so sorry.”
"Wait, wait, wait a minute,” said the half-sister across from Brian as she pointed her finger and the shit stirring brother. “Is that why Robert's not here? Did you tell my husband not to come?"
I didn't tell Robert not to come." And apparently everyone around the table knew that was a lie as the all seemed to groan in unison.
From the husband, "Honey, you didn't. You really have no idea how to leave well enough alone."
"Oh come on. How am I the bad guy here? It's one thing to have some kind of Oz prison fantasy in the privacy of our bedroom," the husband blushed to his hairline.
"Oh, god too much information," Tommy croaked.
"It's another thing entirely," Kevin continued undaunted, "to play guess who's coming to dinner with it. He's a crooked cop and his boyfriend's an ex-con." Kevin finished smugly.
"KEVIN, THAT'S ENOUGH,." Nora shouted
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TOLD ROBERT NOT TO COME. AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME. HE DIDN'T TELL ME," Kitty bleated as she jabbed her fingers at Kevin.
Way to go Kevin," Justin marveled.
"Typical," Tommy muttered.
"You know mom never gets the entire story, always goes off half-cocked. I had access to information that the private eye wouldn’t have been able to get. I'm just looking out for this family. We have no idea," he jabbed his finger in Brian's direction, "who this guy is. And you can't tell me, Kitty, that if you were still Robert's Communications Director you wouldn't have advised him against showing up for dinner until you'd had a chance to scope out the situation."
Saul shook his head and cast an extremely disappointed look at his nephew and speculative look at Brian.
The yelling and raised voices were white noise to Dom. He and Letty had had louder, more physical throw downs. He and Vince had had their share back in the day once Brian Spilner was on the scene. He was able to let it all fade and whittle his focus to the one person at the table that mattered to him. He knew Brian was going to bolt the second before it happened.
"Excuse me," Brian said as he shoved his chair out from the table and was gone from the dining room with Dom up and after him. With a glare at her second son, Nora pushed herself away from the table and followed the two men. .
"BRIAN!" Dom shouted as he hit the front of the house, but Brian was already in the Supra and squealing away. The tires and roar of the engine were exceptionally loud in the quiet neighborhood.
The silence after seemed deafening in contrast.
"You must think we're awful people." Nora said quietly beside him.
Toretto stared in the direction the Supra had taken for several seconds without saying anything. In the first year, some of his and Brian’s worst fights ended with one of them burning rubber away from the house. It was a welcome alternative to a knock down drag out fight. They'd both been schooled, like most boys were, that punching another guy out was manly. Dom has had the extra layer of prison time to cement that and Brian, his work as a cop. Neither of them had been schooled on what to do when the guy you wanted to clock was the same one that made you come apart, in the very best sense, in ways you didn't know you could.
Driving away was the lesser of two evils. Although, it wasn't anger he'd seen in Brian's eyes. It had been dismay.
Dom turned to look Nora Walker in the eye. Her brother Saul hovered just a few inches behind her.
"I know family is complicated. I also know it's good. I'm not really sure Brian does. I think he thinks family is something that you leave behind or that falls apart."
His eyes flick to the empty street.
"Aren't you his family," Nora asked more gently.
"To be with him, the way we are now, I had to leave my family. It kind of fell apart. He, it was my fault but -". Dom shrugged. He and Mia had repaired their relationship enough that she'd extended and open invitation for Dom to bring Brian along for their dinners together. To date O'Conner had always begged off, usually claiming work as an excuse. But each time he did, Dom saw a little of the dismay he'd seen minutes before flash in light blue eyes.
"We've been through some things together, life and death things. He knows I would never cut and run on him."
"I'm sorry Dominic."
"I have a sister, so I know what I've damaged and what I'm working to get back. I want this for him. I want him to have brothers and sisters, to know the good part of that. But, if this is some way to get revenge on your dead husband, bringing him into this....no one gets to use him like that or hurt him like that. If you had any idea what your son was going to do -. You and your whole dysfunctional clan will be sorry."
"Are you threatening my mother?"
"Calm down Kevin." Saul placed his body between his nephew's, his sister's and Dom's.
"I knew this was bad.”
"It's nothing bad Kevin. Mr. Toretto was just telling me how much he loves your brother."
"The dirty cop, give me a break."
“Go back in the house, you’ve done quite enough,” Saul said as he gripped his nephew by the forearms and turned him back in the direction of the house.
"This is priceless. Let go of me Saul." Dom laughed and took a step toward Kevin.
"You sure you want to take on the ex-con?"
"Kevin, go in the house. You and I will talk later."
"Mom -"
"If you want to continue to be welcome at this house, you need to go inside now honey."
"UNBELIEVABLE." Kevin yelled as he yanked himself out of his uncle's grip and stalked back into the house.
"Family," Nora sighed.
"Yeah," Dom agreed.
A half an hour later Brian pulled in front of the house and idled at the curb. Sitting on the front step, Dom drank a beer and waited. Brian had the audacity to blow the horn.
Dom stalked out to the curb and leaned into the passenger side of the car.
"Come on Toretto, let's go. I know I was an ass to take of without you, but let's go home now.
"No."
"No. What the hell do you mean no?"
"Don't act like a kid Brian. There are a couple of things you need to do before we go."
"Like what?"
"You gotta be kidding me. The first thing you’re going to do is go inside and apologize to Nora Walker. Your brother may be a dick - .”
Half-brother,” Brian spat.
“I’ll give you that. He's a dick, but what she’s trying to do, what she tried to do wasn't a bad thing. These people are your family.”
“You’re my family.”
“I am. And that’s why I’m not going to let you do this. Do you think it was easy, that it’s gotten any easier for Mia to hold onto me after what happened? If I called right now though and said that I needed her, in spite of everything, she would be here. Do you think it was easy for Nora Walker to seek out the son of the woman her husband cheated with and had a child with? Invite him to dinner. Do you think it's easy for her to realize that when her oldest son was born and she was beaming over the bastard's first boy, he'd already had his first boy with someone else?
Brian shut off the engine and pressed his face against the steering wheel.
"She sucked it up and did it because of her kids. The more people you have willing to do that for you the better. I might not always be around."
The blond head jerked up from the steering wheel.
"You need other people Brian. You need these people. I am not going to let you burn this bridge. You’ve got four other siblings. Sarah, the one with the dark brown hair, stopped staring at my ass long enough to show me pictures of her kids. You have a niece and nephew. There's one asshole in the bunch, that’s just the averages.”
O'Conner slammed out of the car.
“I can’t. I, I -.” He made a helpless gesture towards the house. "They’re all so…white, so clean. I have a half-brother in-law who’s a senator for god’s sake. A war hero -
"War hero, which one?"
"Justin."
"No shit."
"Yeah, no shit, a corporate attorney, Kitty wrote a book and…what I do, what I've done -. They were fighting about me.”
Dom reached suddenly and pulled him into his arms. “ What happened with the team, with Mia -” Brian stiffened against him. In four years they had never really talked about it.
"What happened with my sister and the team that has nothing to do with this. The Walkers are not going to fall apart because you're in their mists. And what you do, you're willing to take bullets for strangers. Why wouldn’t they want to call someone like that brother. And you know as soon as one of them gets a speeding ticket they’ll be calling you."
He was relieved to feel Brian relax against him and laugh.
"You want me to go in with you?"
"Um no. I already left you at their mercy. It's my turn now."
"You know it 's not like that. You want me in. I'm in."
"Yeah, I know. You might want to start the car again, in case we have to make a fast getaway."
Dom laughed. Brian leaned in and kissed his mouth. "I love you," he murmured before turning quickly and heading for the front door of Walker house.
Kitty accosted him in the living room, her index finger pointed at his face.
"You have every right to be mad at Kevin, every right. I am so mad at Robert now. I, I, I could. I don't even know what I could do right now. And of course I can't get Robert on the phone. It's so typical, I just - ." Her hands ended in a flail.
Brian interrupted before she could start again. " Where is everyone?"
"Uh, on the patio I think. We just skipped right to dessert."
"Still yelling."
"Not at the moment, it'll probably start again after dessert's gone."
"Then maybe I better get out there now. Um, which way."
"Oh, uh come on."
With Kitty in the lead, Brian followed through the living room to the kitchen to the patio door just to the side of the kitchen. Through the glass he could see an expansive patio illuminated with tea lights. And they were all there, despite the blow up at dinner. Kevin and his husband were on one of the chaises sitting back to front. Neither of them were talking. Justin and Rebecca were also on a chaise taking turns spooning something out of a shared bowl into each others mouths. Nora, Saul and Sarah were sitting around a huge picnic table quietly with their own bowls.
He swallowed down his discomfort and ignored the hard flutter in his stomach. He hadn't felt it before dinner. His half-siblings had already been reduced to faces with jackets in manila folders. He'd reduced them to perps before dinner and he'd been curious to match each one to his or her sheet.
He'd ignored the thing they had in common until now. We have the same father, he thought, who we can never ask what the hell he thought he was doing. We all have mothers with lives tainted by William Walker.
Everyone looked toward the patio doors as Kitty pushed them open. Kevin came up from his reclining position, fast glaring. His husband grabbed the tail of his t-shirt and held on. Brian ignored him, turning his full attention instead to Nora.
"I'd like to say something. It'll be quick."
"Nonsense," Nora said as she rose from her seat. "Let me get you a bowl of ice cream, homemade."
"No, really. I just would like to say a couple of things if that's okay?"
"Of course Brian." Nora sat.
"Four years ago I made mistakes on my first undercover case. Dominic Toretto is not one of those mistakes. But there are lives that will never be the same because of the way things went down. I own it. I live with it. I did the best that I could in a dangerous situation to save the life of someone that I love and the people he loves."
"Right on man," Justin said.
"And I am here now, not because I need or want anything that William Walker had," he turned his gaze to Kevin, "but because my partner seems to think it's important that I have brothers and sisters. He's obviously biased, but he's also the best part of me. Mrs. Walker, thank you for dinner. I apologize for my earlier rudeness. We're gonna go."
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a card and took the necessary steps to hand it to Justin.
"That's Dom's card. If you want to visit the garage give him a call."
"Thanks man."
The smile he gave Brian was so bright, so grateful that when 'my little brother' echoed his head again it meant something. He had a younger brother.
"I've got some more ideas, about what Dom and I were talking about at dinner, about maximizing the garage's potential." Tommy chimed in behind him. Brian turned to look at his other, by a hair, younger brother. Part of what Dom had said to him minutes earlier clicked. The flutter subsided.
"Thanks man, I'll let him know. He'd probably appreciate having someone who doesn't stare at him blankly when he talks about balance sheets and who has business sense to bounce ideas off."
"Ditto." Tommy grinned.
"I have business sense, " Sarah said indignantly.
"Yeah," Brian said as he walked toward the patio doors, "but of the two of you, I think Tommy is the only one I can trust won't molest Dom. 'Night all."
With the sound of Walker laughter in his ears, he left.
Fin