Who's the Buster? - Fast and Furious Fic (Chapter 8/14)
Masterpost Available Here
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Chapter Eight
Tuesday dinner had been normal except that everyone kept trying to give him more food than he could eat in a week. If Jesse wasn't offering him more broccoli then Vince was dropping another chicken wing on his plate or Leon was handing him the pasta salad or Letty was literally stuffing mashed potatoes in his mouth, plate be damned, to the amusement and laughter of everyone else around the table.
Wednesday morning, Dom knocked on Brian's door and woke him up at ass o'clock in the morning. The sun was barely starting to creep over the horizon when Brian opened the door to Dom, skin slick and shiny with sweat and a duffle over his shoulder. Usually Brian was good with sudden wakefulness because the dangers of his job required it. That particular sight, though, made him feel like his brain was still running through the molasses of sleep.
"What?" Brian managed. "Dom? Why are you here?"
"I need a shower."
The more muscled man pushed his way into the apartment and took a cursory glance around before making a beeline for the bathroom. Brain scratched his left shoulder absently. "Is yours broken?" he asked.
He leaned in the doorway of the bathroom as Dom fiddled with the knobs, learning how they worked. "No," was all he said until the water was spraying at a temperature Dom accepted. Then he stood and pulled his sweaty white tank off, dropping it to the floor next to the wall.
Dom was a Greek artwork of glistening muscles and sculpted abs. Sweat caught on the ridges made by his muscles and the dip of his hips, the fine hairs on his tan body. A bead of sweat, knocked loose by the removal of Dom's shirt, slid off his collarbone and dripped down his chest. It stalled out in the middle of his abs.
Brian wanted to lick it off.
Jolting out of his thoughts, and actually taking a physical step back, Brian cleared his throat. "So why my shower then?" he asked, his voice coming out deeper than he'd intended.
Dom paused in pulling his jogging pants down and looked up at Brian. His fingers were gripped loosely in the grey fabric but it felt like they were on Brian's speeding heart. Did he know Brian had been looking? Did he know what Brian had imagined doing? Was he okay with it if he had?
"It was on my way back anyway," Dom started to explain after several seconds, "so I figured why not get some use outta you."
Just as Brian opened his mouth to counter the statement with how much 'use' Dom got from him at the garage, Dom spoke again.
"Also I decided I'm going with you to work today."
"Come again?"
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So Dom rode along in the passenger seat while Brian did runs for Harry. Brian had tried to contest it, but apparently this wasn't a spur of the moment decision because Harry was totally on board for the whole thing by the time Brian and Dom walked into the shop.
Brian was given a list of things to pick up and another of things to drop off around the city to and from different customers. Having Dom along was actually helpful because he could help lift the heavier stuff into or out of the back of the truck, but Brian wasn't sure exactly why Dom had decided to come today of all days.
They'd just picked up an old engine Harry had bought off an equally old man when it hit Brian that this, today, was an extension of the night before. Like everyone kept giving him extra food, as if he needed to eat as much as possible because he wouldn't get another chance, Dom was here because of the shooting. He must've been on the lookout for Braga or anyone Braga would send. He didn't even know that Brian was the true target, but he was with Brian just in case something happened.
Would he try and fight off the next attacker? But if their mutation was long range, that wouldn't help. So would he try to get between Brian and the attack? Likely. Or maybe he was there just in case Brian got hurt so that Brian could mimic him again. Brian didn't need the person to be near him to mimic then, and with Dom it would be like diving into a pool whether Dom was around or not, but none of the team knew that.
Well, if Dom was here because of Braga, then Brian could get some answers about him and hopefully figure out a plan to draw the guy out.
"So the Trans," Brian started. "I got called to the station yesterday about the shooting. Turns out they were being controlled by Arturo Bra-."
"Stay away from Braga," Dom interrupted. He turned from looking out the window to Brian driving the truck. "The team knows. We already knew his power and Elena told us what Johnny said. And that's why you need to stay away."
Brian frowned. "Why? Because he's dangerous? I grew up in dangerous, Dom."
"Not like this." Dom shook his head.
Anger jolted through Brian and he pulled the truck over to the side of the road. Shutting the truck off, he turned to Dom. "No. Worse."
The look on Dom's face was confused and yet curious and concerned. Brian fought the urge to roll his eyes.
"The town I grew up in? It was runaway mutant city. Most of the town was made up of regs, in fact I'd even say ninety-nine percent of people were regular humans. But we were a small town surrounded by bigger cities with bigger mutant pops. Mutants used to parade through town on their rush to freedom from whatever police department they were running from. Growing up I saw people killed by mutants, mugged by mutants, robbed by mutants. We couldn't go a week without a state of emergency being called because that nice girl with the bob cut just froze the entire bank and stole all the money, or that guy who looked like a grandpa could steal the air from your lungs with a single touch and he was at large in town."
Brian shook his head, his left hand gripping the steering wheel tightly even though he was facing Dom.
"Mutants scared people, Dom. They scared me." He let out a bitter laugh. "It wasn't until I was about fifteen that I realized that they only did those terrible things because they were the ones who were scared and desperate. Cops were right behind them, every step. They'd lost everything and everyone they cared about. They needed resources to escape and we just happened to be right in their path. When I realized that mutants were just scared is when they finally stopped scaring me. But that doesn't mean they stopped committing crimes all over my hometown. So if you think that Braga is the worst mutant I've heard of, hell the worst I've personally seen, then you've got another thing coming. I have seen mutants, Dom, and I've seen them at their worst."
Dom stared at him for several long moments after his rant was over.
Then Dom's eyebrows pulled together. "I doubt Braga is scared."
A startled laugh broke from Brian's lips. "No, no I don't think he is. Not like that." He shook his head again. "That's not the point, though, Dom. The point is that I've dealt with mutants before who would have loved to kill me or hurt me in some way, just to get me out of the way. Hell, I've dealt with regs who would've done the same. So don't tell me to stay away just because Braga is dangerous. I know that already. It's just not the deciding factor."
Now Dom looked proud, though about what Brian wasn't sure.
"So what is the deciding factor, Bri?" he asked, his voice a deep rumble that Brian could feel in his chest. "What would keep you away?"
Brian swallowed. "Honestly, I'm not sure there is one," he admitted. "Braga hurts people, and if I can help stop him, I'm gonna do it. If you go after him to protect your family, then just know I'm going with you. You had better not leave me behind."
Dom reached across the truck cabin to wrap his hand around the side of Brian's neck where it met his shoulder. One of his fingers slipped under the collar of Brian's shirt and Brian held his breath, kept his eyes locked on Dom's. Dom watched his own hand for a moment before meeting Brian's gaze.
"You're something, Brian, that's for sure," he said. "I'm not sure if you're stupid or brave, but either way, I like it." He grinned.
Brian snorted out a laugh as Dom's hand pulled up from Brian's neck and through his blond curls as he pulled his hand back.
"Someone's got to," Brian said with a smile in his voice. He fixed Dom with a stare that was still serious but not as heavy as his previous one. "So we good? You all gonna stop babysitting me and start treating me like a member of this team?"
Dom's grin softened into a pleased smile that Brian wanted to bottle up and keep for a rainy day. "I can't tell you what the others'll do, but I'll include you in any plans we make, alright?"
Brian gave a half shrug and turned back to the wheel, turning the truck on again. "That's the best I can ask for."
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Saturday, Brian opened his door to find Leon on his doorstep.
"Should I just get used to you all showing up or something?" When Leon just looked really confused, Brian shook his head. "Never mind. What'd you need?"
He was hauled off with barely time to brush his teeth and driven to the Torettown City Park in Leon's Nissan Skyline GT-R, going the actual speed limit. When Leon finally parked, Brian was surprised to find them at a baseball field with a little over one hundred people milling about.
"Who's playing?" Brian asked after they were both out of the car.
A shirt smacked him in the face and Brian jumped in surprise. Pulling it away from him, Brian looked down and saw a dark blue jersey with the number '7' and 'Spilner' written on the back.
"We are," Leon quipped with a grin before waltzing off toward the dugouts with a whistled tune, his own jersey in hand.
Brian was so shocked that they'd even had a jersey made for him that it didn't quite register what Leon had said until they were lining up next to Dom, Mia, Letty, Vince, and Jesse on one side of the field.
"Wait, we are? As in, us? Why are we playing baseball?" Brian asked.
Dom smirked at him. "Charity. And you're just in time."
Racing cars, Brian could do that. Running undercover missions? Sure thing. Playing baseball? Not one of Brian's specialties. But when he'd tried to tell Vince and Letty that he'd never played before and probably wasn't any good, Letty had just clapped him on the shoulder and said "Well then you'd better pay attention so you don't get us killed out there, got it, Buster?"
Mutant baseball was nothing Brian had ever experienced before.
The opposing team's pitcher threw the ball at speeds that nearly broke the bats. The outfielders were twins with wings that could fly up and grab the balls from midair. When Letty was first baseman, she sent electricity sparking down the path to paralyze the runners so Dom's team could catch them. Jesse used shields to keep the other team away from him while he ran the bases. Vince used his super strength to match the other pitcher's throws. Leon took people out without them even realizing he was near them, or got on base because no one knew he was nearing it until he was there. Vince was tripped by another player's tail. The wind picked up whenever it was Mia's turn to bat and Brian was mostly certain it was an audience member's fault because Mia kept turning to glare at the crowd every time it happened.
Brian ran faster every time he moved from base to base, pulling on the combined athleticism of both his teammates and his opponents. His swing improved with each ball thrown at him.
He'd lost count of the number of times someone face planted into the grass or the clay. His first encounter with the ground came when he and a girl from the other team nearly collided, but suddenly she was going right through him, and Brian's attempts to stop going forward ended with him on his back and the girl looking down at him with a sheepish grin.
By the time they were in the fourth inning, their brand new jerseys were covered in dirt smears and grass stains, chalk and clay, sweat marks and bits of spit. Brian had never played baseball before, but he was pretty sure this was considered a very rough game, and that eighty percent of the players and audience members were cheating but no one seemed to care.
Brian was on third base, inching out toward home but keeping his back foot on the plate, his eyes drifting from Dom up to bat to the players around the field and back. There. Brian's eyes snapped to the edge of the stands, his focus leaving the game for the first time in what felt like days.
"No way," he breathed out.
A dark skinned male was standing there, white beater shirt and jeans, black over shirt and sneakers, bald head. He was staring at Brian with an expression that wasn't quite a frown but was edging toward it and a dark gaze.
"Brian!"
Jumping, Brian came back to the game and found Jesse skidding into third base. He'd missed the hit. Dom was already on first base and staring at him while one of the opposing players grabbed the ball from the grass in the outfield. Cursing, Brian took off at a dead sprint. One of the other players tried to tag him but Brian ducked and slid home. Dust and clay smeared all along the back side of his pants and jersey, which was something they never talked about in movies, but the umpire called safe so Brian didn't care.
Shooting his eyes back to the stands while on his way to the dugout, Brian didn't see Rome anymore, but he knew he hadn't imagined it. Somehow, someway, Roman Pearce was loose in Torettown.
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The game ended with Dom's team winning. Brian wasn't sure if he was surprised or not. Dom and the others seemed to excel at everything they tried but that game had been close. They'd only won by one point. If they'd been allowed to win because Dom and Mia were Torettos, no one could honestly call the other team out on it because of how intensely everyone played.
Letty tossed Brian a towel to wipe the dirt and sweat from his face and he nodded his thanks. Shaking his head, Brian was reminded of his only gripe about longer hair: it collected mess. Sweat droplets flew from his curls and Brian ran the towel through his hair when he was done with his face and neck. When he pulled the towel away, a bottle of water was being held in front of his face.
Dom nodded when Brian glanced up at him. "Time to go."
Brian accepted the water bottle and Dom's hand to pull himself up, the towel now resting around his neck.
Leon smacked him on the back as they headed out to their cars through the crowds of happy spectators. "Never played baseball, indeed, bruh!" he crowed. "That was one excellent game!"
A smile that was all teeth and joy. "It was fun, man," Brian agreed.
"Sure looked fun."
Brian stopped walking abruptly. The others only got one step ahead of him before stopping as well, and then they all turned around as one unit. Rome stood about ten feet back, hands in his pockets and that same intense look on his face.
"Roman," Brian let out.
Last time they'd seen each other, Rome was shouting at him for joining the police force in Barstow. Then he got arrested for using his mutation to get people to give him their cars.
Rome pulled his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest. "What? Been eight years and you got nothing to say to me? B?"
A smile burst onto Brian's face at the nickname and he quickly crossed the distance between them. He opened his arms wide and Rome did the same and then they were giving each other a giant hug that nearly overbalanced them. "Rome! It's really great to see you, bro."
Laughing, Rome pulled back. "I'm not sure if I want to kick your butt or kiss you, man, but damn does it feel good to be outta that shithole."
"Brian?" Mia's voice broke in. Brian turned to see everyone watching them. "Who's your friend?"
The way she said 'friend' was weird, and the others were looking at Brian like they'd never seen him before.
"Right, guys, this is Rome, he's a buddy of mine," Brian answered. "Rome, this is Jesse, Leon, Vince, Letty, Mia Toretto, and Dominic Toretto."
Rome's eyes drifted over each person as Brian pointed at them, but caught on Dom. They stared at each other as if sizing each other up. Dom was one inch taller and buffer, but they were close enough that if a fight broke out, Dom might have competition. After a long few moments where the others just flicked their eyes between the two, Rome nodded like he approved of what he saw. Dom didn't.
"So how do you know each other?" Vince asked, the same suspicion he'd greeted Brian with making a reappearance.
"We used to date each other," Rome answered. Brian rolled his eyes while the others eyes grew large. "Man, it was like heaven, I tell ya. Every hour, finding some darkened corner to get one off. School locker room was our favorite, class going or not. I was one horny teenager and Brian? Brian was even worse. Mmm," he said, closing his eyes for a moment. "Teachers hated us, no doubt. But goddamn, those were the best years of my life."
There was a long pause once he'd finished speaking where no one responded. None of them seemed to be able to shut their mouths or blink or look away from Rome or even breathe right. After several long moments, Brian punched Rome in the arm and snapped his fingers at the others.
It was like a switch was pulled. They all started to move, to breathe and shake their heads and glance around between themselves and between Brian and Rome. Dom looked a bit sick.
"Yeah. That's Rome," Brian said with a shrug.
"That's…not…," Mia held her head for a moment. "That was all bullshit, wasn't it." It wasn't phrased like a question, but Brian nodded anyway while Rome looked hugely pleased with himself. "But I can tell when people are lying, and I…I couldn't tell. Not until now."
Brian let out a breath. "That's his power," he said. "He was known back home as the kid that never shut up, and as long as he keeps blabbering, you keep believing him. Even though ninety-nine percent of the time, he's completely full of shit."
"It's a gift," Rome preened. He held out his hand to Mia, which she accepted, and then shook it more forcefully than she was expecting. "Nice to meet you. Roman Pearce. Nice to meet all o' you." Releasing Mia's hand, he turned to Brian. "Now I know ya'll just finished a game or whatnot, but I'ma steal you away. You owe me a burger," he said.
Brian snorted. "I don't owe you shit, dude." He was still going to buy the burger, but whatever. He turned to Dom and the others. They still looked a bit shaken, a bit wrong-footed. Dom in particular seemed unable to decide between angry and, strangely, seasick. "See you guys tomorrow?" he asked, scrunching his eyes together in concern at Dom.
Jesse raised his hand in a distracted wave and Mia said, "Of course," and then they split ways. Dom never said a word and Brian frowned at their retreating backs.
Rome feinted a punch to Brian's middle that Brian jumped back from and then threw back at Rome, which Rome caught, making them both smile.
"It's been too long," Brian laughed, momentarily forgetting about the strange expression on Dom's face.
Rome wrapped an arm around his shoulder and ruffled his hair. "Yeah yeah, white boy, now show me where I can get a decent burger in this town."
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Preview of Chapter 9
Dom was wearing a white tank top, as usual, the muscles in his arms and back out on show for anyone to enjoy. They barely met eyes before Dom turned back to his job.
"You son of a bitch, I can't believe you never told me!"
He glared at his old friend. "I was scared," he said.
"You're still scared, Brian," he hissed. "You're still hiding."
Letty shook her head. "What would turn your head? Maybe someone with a bit more muscle like Dom."
Rome chuckled and took a swig of his own beer. "I'm moving in on a bro's territory."
The looks Brian received from Toretto and the gang were equal parts pointed and confused. Brian gave Rome a look he hoped conveyed how stupid he thought the older man was being.
Brian's cover had no significant other or set orientation. If he could get Rome to go for it, making a relationship between them seem real would be no problem.
Brian wasn't aware he'd reached out until both of Dom's hands encompassed his own. It felt like Brian backed up into a hot poker and he felt the blood drain from his face before he realized what had happened. Panic began to set in and Brian's breathing quickened into desperate panting. Brian shivered, his fingers gripping Dom's almost unintentionally.
He couldn't move his legs.