An Unexpected Encounter
[Pairings: Brian/ Letty; hints of Dom/Letty & Brian/Mia][Warnings: Spoilers for Fast 6][Rated: M]
[Summary: Sometimes the past comes back to bite you in the ass. Or in Brian's case, it comes back to punch him in the jaw and then ask for a favor.]
Chapter 1
The first time Brian ran into Letty after he had come back to L. A., the first thing he saw of her was her fist. Well, mostly he just felt it. He stumbled slightly before catching himself, rubbing his left cheekbone carefully, ignoring the stars still exploding behind his eye to focus on his attacker.
Instead, he saw Letty, watching him with a determined glare. “Shit”, he grumbled irritably. “Still can pack a wicked punch, huh?” Brian asked finally. He still remembered the fight between Dom and Tran's crew at Race War's - knew she could hold her own in a street fight.
“I’m not out of practice”, she answered flatly.
He glanced at their surroundings. Brian had stepped out of the bar to have an actual cigarette instead of just inhaling the second hand smoke that drifted off people’s clothing. Yeah, he was having a nicotine relapse. Sue him. He’d been about to light it when she’d decked him. But his fist had clenched with the painful contact, and he eyed the crumpled mess in his hand, slightly annoyed.
“That was my last one”, he scowled.
“Those damn things’ll kill ya”, she said unapologetically.
“Wouldn’t that just save you the trouble?”
“I’m considering it my good deed for the day”, Letty answered dryly.
“Why the hell did you hit me?”
She stared at him incredulously. “Do you really have to ask?”
“Okay, you know what”, he growled, at the end of his patience. “I am super goddamn sorry that you guys were stupid enough to be the ones ripping off those trucks”, Brian hissed sarcastically. “But I let Dom go, Letty. I gave him the keys to that fucking Supra and he got away. Whatever he decided to do after that- that’s on him.”
Her jaw tightened and she started backing away. “Trust me, I know”, she murmured under her breath, turning to walk to her car, apparently deciding to forgo the bar.
“Hey!” he called sharply.
She stopped and looked over her shoulder.
“Do us both a favor and don’t sneak up on me again”, he warned seriously.
Letty just raised an eyebrow. “I’ll remember that.”
00
The second time he saw her, it was three weeks later, and she was standing on the platform to his second floor apartment, leaning against the tan colored brick next to his door, one foot propped on the wall behind her. Brian stopped at the top of the cement stairs and they eyed each other warily.
“Trying a full-frontal assault this time?” Brian asked, approaching cautiously.
“No”, she said shortly.
“Had a change of heart?” In the daylight, he could see her more clearly and noted the changes. She was no longer just a girl who knew her way under the hood of a car. But then again, he knew he wasn't the same person he had been back than either. Five years was a really long damn time.
Letty shook her head, either not registering the casual, innocent once-over he had discreetly given her, or she didn't care. “I think I pushed my luck enough on the first one.”
He frowned. “I don’t hit women.”
“Stray dogs can’t help but bite the person feeding them either sometimes”, she said quietly.
“Did you just compare me to a stray dog?” he asked incredulously. That statement was perceptive in a way that unnerved him.
She smiled wryly then, “Lookin’ a bit scruffy, O’Conner.”
“Do you want something?” he asked pointedly, unlocking his door and letting them both inside.
“I could use a drink.”
“Beer in the fridge”, he shrugged, gesturing towards the small kitchen. “But that’s not what I meant.”
She grabbed a beer bottle from the fridge, twisting the top off and drinking most of it before looking back in his direction. “The street scene is… a mess”, Letty said finally. “I think you know why. And you need my help.”
Brian blinked at her a bit stupidly, before protesting. “Letty, no-”
She met his eyes steadily, steeling herself. “I’m going to need your help too.”
00
A/N: Okay, so I am rewriting a bit of a story I have posted on ff.net, called 'Love and War' which is a spoiler for Fast 6, and focuses on Letty and Dom as far as the pairing goes. But, I was doing several flashbacks of Letty's meetings with Brian, and I was poking around in
http://quartermile-km.livejournal.com/ and saw several Brian/Letty prompts, so I decided to just string together my flashbacks and alter them just a bit to give it a different tone. So, the only one I'm plagiarizing is myself. =) Thanks for reading, if you've gotten this far.