Come Hell or High Water
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: A FatF FBI case file AU where our guys are the good guys. Drama/Romance ~Eventual Dom/Letty & Brian/Mia~
Rating: M
Chapter 3
Six weeks later:
Letty looked up from her files, realizing her top right drawer had open and shut. "Did you just- give that back!"
"Yours is better", he said unrepentantly before tossing the small tube of hand lotion back to her.
"Well, you're an HR nightmare", Letty said dryly.
Brian shrugged easily. "You still love me."
"I don't know about that. Love is a strong word", she said with a smirk. "I'd lean more towards 'strongly tolerate'."
"Lies", he grinned.
Letty groaned and tossed a green Sharpie from her pen holder at him.
"I feel unsafe in my workplace!" Brian yelped immediately, dodging out of reach of the flying object.
"You're supposed to be scared of me", she grumbled.
"One, you're easy to bribe with food. Two, I've seen you in your ducky pajama pants", he teased as he lowered himself into the chair across from her desk.
"I hate you so much", she shook her head fondly. Letty looked up and gave him a quick once-over, noting the tie he'd nearly ripped loose from his neck. She quirked an eyebrow. "How was therapy?" she drawled.
"How was therapy?" Brian repeated grimly. "How was my therapy with your husband?" he glared. "Why don't you go to therapy with Dom and tell me how it goes."
"That bad?" she asked lazily, blue pen spinning through her fingers, smirk playing at her mouth. "Dom and I don't have to go to the in-house therapist because we behave professionally at work."
"I hate this shit", Brian growled. "And you can quit finding this funny any week now."
"Did you really think they'd let you get away with bullshitting another psychologist?" Letty asked quietly.
He glared at her, looking a bit sullen. And if it wasn't such a serious situation she would tease him for pouting.
She sighed. "It wasn't your fault."
"It wasn't not my fault", he said grimly.
"Did you want me to pull you out of your river of guilt, or drown you in it?" Letty glared back. "This isn't helping anything. And she wouldn't have wanted it."
He stood up. "I'm going to get lunch. I'll bring you something back."
Letty shook her head as he left – bribing her with food – thinking back to the event that had planted Brian firmly into their lives.
00
Two years and four months ago:
Mia was waiting in her car in the back of the parking lot of Letty's work building. Mia had driven her to work this morning, and they were going to head out to Echo Park for the weekend. Her bag was settled next to Letty's in the trunk. She glanced over her shoulder and into the backseat at Letty's new puppy. Apollo was lying on his blanket on the seat, eating the stuffing out of a pink pig.
"You are very handsome", Mia said to him with a sigh.
He looked at her with his head cocked, and she reached back to pet his ears.
"New - very cute – puppy, new apartment… do you understand your mommy, Apollo?" Mia asked quietly. "I don't right now. Let me know if you find anything out in obedience classes. I hear those are going well."
Apollo went back to snarling playfully as he ripped white, cloud-like tufts out of fluff from the stomach of his ripped pig.
Mia glanced over when she saw the glass doors opening, Letty walking out, talking to a man half a step behind her. Mia's eye's narrowed, studying the tall, brown-haired man with a bit of scruff on his face wearing ripped jeans, and a dark green t-shirt that looked a bit too small even on his wiry frame.She had a feeling he'd be taller when he wasn't hunching his shoulders.
Letty's eyes tracked the parking lot until she found Mia's car. Mia watched the man be tugged gently by the elbow as Letty headed over.
Mia turned on the car and rolled down the passenger window as they approached. "Call for a taxi?" she asked.
"Hey, Mia", Letty grinned.
Apollo heard Letty's voice and jumped between the seats to stick his head out the window to great his owner.
Letty cooed at him at picked him up through the open window. "Hi, baby. Were you a good boy for auntie Mia?"
Mia's eyes rolled. "He stayed out of my shoe closet this time. Letty, are you going to introduce me to your friend?"
"Mia, this is Brian. Brian, this is my sister-in-law Mia… and this is Apollo."
There was a slight smirk on his face as he said, "Yeah, he looks like you. Nice to meet you, Mia."
"You too", she said mildly.
And then Letty was handing Apollo over. "Hold a puppy. It'll be good for you", she muttered under her breath.
Brian got a few licks to his face for his trouble. "You're going to be in trouble when he's full-grown and still wants to be carried, Letty", he smirked slightly eyeing the long, lanky legs and over-sized paws of the eight-month old puppy.
She shrugged. "Probably."
"I should let you get out of here", he said quietly, handing Apollo back to her and she put him back in the car.
"Do you need anything-?"
"Funeral's Wednesday", he said shortly. "I'm on leave for at least two weeks."
"I'll be there", she said quietly.
"You don't have to-"
"Shut up, O'Conner", she muttered. "Go home and get some sleep." Sleep wouldn't come easy, she knew, but he could stand to try if the dark circles under his eyes could talk. "Go eat something that isn't a bagel", Letty said, pulling out her stern voice. "You've been stuck here for two days."
"Yeah, okay", was the grumbled response before he ducked to lean in the window. "Mia, it was nice to meet you", he repeated quietly.
"It was nice to meet you too, Brian."
Brian left, going to his own car near the back of the parking lot while Letty shoved Apollo into the backseat where he was supposed to be, and settled in the front next to Mia looking a bit ill.
"Funeral", Mia asked inaudibly, before shifting to drive.
Letty let out a pained breath that sounded like a hiss. "His partner, Trisha Langston, was killed in the line of duty. I'll check on him Monday."
Mia winced. People often mistook Mia for the more compassionate of the two, but if Letty was already reigning in her mother-hen tendencies, Mia was just along for the ride. She'd ask when Letty had met this 'Brian O'Conner' a little later. "I'll make something", she said quietly. She didn't think that man was meant to be that skinny.
"I don't know that a casserole will fix this, Mia", Letty sighed a bit worriedly.
00
Two weeks later:
Brian was about to take a file upstairs to Hobbs when his desk phone rang, and he leaned over and grabbed it. "O'Conner."
"Brian, I need you to come down to the morgue." It was Rachel.
"You've got a body?"
There was a sigh. "You need to see this."
"On my way."
Hobbs could wait.
Brian dropped the files back in his drawer and locked it. "Toretto, we're going downstairs", he said, passing his partner's desk.
Dom looked up from his desk. "Morgue?"
"Come on."
They took the elevator to the basement floor where the morgue was located.
Brian opened the door at the end of the hall and a woman in a white lab coat with dark, square glasses and blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail looked up from her clipboard.
"Rach, you said you've got a body?" Brian glanced over to the body that was covered on by the sheet on the table to his right.
She cocked a pointed eyebrow. "Not a one quite as menacing as the once you've brought with you, but maybe more troublesome."
"Lee was in while you were gone", Brian sighed. "Rachel Langston, Dominic Toretto."
"Thank you", she said with an eye roll that was clearly judging his lack of manners. Several years back, he might have made a smart-ass comment about all the women in his life harassing him, but after Trisha's death, he preferred to keep things more impersonal between them. It didn't matter that she'd been clear that she didn't hold him responsible for what had happened to her sister. Trisha had been his partner. It was still his responsibility.
"Who's on the table?" Dom asked.
Rachel moved around the table and pulled the sheet back enough to see the victim's face.
Brian cursed, and Dominic looked over. "You know her?"
Brian looked up grimly. "Her name is Molly Kilpatrick. Where was her body found?"
"An abandoned shopping center near Rochester. Right now, I'm going to tentatively say that her death was caused by a blow to the head… but don't say that to the family."
Brian groaned. "Have they been notified?"
"They were sending someone out to find her husband."
"Great."
"Who's telling Letty?" Rachel asked carefully.
"I will", Brian muttered darkly. "If we have to re-open that case-" Brian snapped his mouth shut. That case had been a nightmare… for various reasons.
"It wasn't my fault someone probably paid off the coroner to sign the death certificate. It was out of my hands once the autopsy said it was a heart attack."
"Rachel… get us some DNA, okay? And let Hobbs know who the victim is in case he needs to do damage control. Dom… let's go get Letty."
0
Letty was almost ready to leave for work when her cell phone rang. She'd taken a late morning and gone to yoga and then brunch with Mia. Mia was still at her apartment while she got ready.
"Letty, Brian's calling your phone."
"Answer it."
Mia shrugged and swiped her thumb across the screen. "Brian, it's Mia", she answered.
"Mia, you're with Letty?"
"'Hello' to you too", she raised an eyebrow. "We're at her place."
"Sorry, Mia. Look something came up at work. Can you take the baby?"
Mia's eyes crossed. "Did you just refer to Letty's dog as 'the baby'?" It was bad enough when Letty did it. She could hear her brother's voice in the background, clearly asking a similar question.
"We're going to be working some late hours for this one, Mia", he sighed. "Take Apollo home with you, please."
Letty reached over and took the phone from her then. "What's going on, O'Conner?"
"Dead body. I'm with Dom. We're on our way to pick you up."
She sighed. "I'll get my stuff."
00
Dom's glare would have set a normal person on fire.
Brian ignored him. Without warning, and barely using his blinker, he swung into the Starbucks drive-through.
"I hate your driving", Dominic growled.
"Bring it up in therapy", Brian said a bit snarkily. This was not a new conversation.
Staring at the three-car line, Dom's glare grew stronger. "We don't have time for this."
Brian raised an eyebrow. "I don't know about you, but if I give Letty coffee before I give her bad news she looks a lot less like she wants to punch people. If you've got some magical bullshit at your disposal to prevent that, by all means, share with the class."
Dom grunted and shrugged.
"I'd better add bagels", Brian muttered as they moved up a space. And a blueberry muffin for Mia.
Fifteen minutes later, as Dominic followed Brian up the cement steps to Letty's apartment, the only warning he got was Brian turning his head over his shoulder and saying flatly, "This is gonna go to shit."
Later, maybe several months down the road, Dom would remember this moment, and think about what a glaringly obvious understatement it truly was.
But for now, Dom was oblivious as Mia let them inside.
There was a small packed duffel under Letty's work bag on the bar stool with a jacket draped over the back.
Brian heard the balcony doors close, and turned his head. Letty's eyebrows went up as she took in the surplus of Starbucks treats, and that Apollo hadn't left the couch, his tail wagging warily as if sensing the tension.
"Serial killer?" she asked finally, only half-joking as she took the cup from the tray.
Brian just shook his head. "Possibly worse."
"Who's the body?"
"Letty."
She set her cup down then, mood darkening obviously. "Just tell me."
Brian sighed. "It's Molly Kilpatrick."
Her jaw clenched and she spit out a curse. "Goddammit."
"Someone clue me in", Dom said finally, keeping a tight reign on his growing annoyance.
Letty's eyes flitted in his direction. "Right", she said tiredly, seeming to remember one more time, that there was another thing that Dom hadn't been around for. "We'll fill you in on the way. This is gonna be shit." Letty turned to find Mia perched on the arm of the couch, pretending to read an old issue of Cosmo. "Mia, do you need anything else for Apollo?"
Mia looked up and shook her head. She had a pile of toys, the dog crate, and his bed already piled in her hatchback. "I'll be fine. You three stay out of trouble… is that possible?" she asked shaking her head. "Let me know if you need anything, alright?"
"We'll be fine, Mia", Letty said softly.
Mia snorted a bit disparagingly. "Brian", she prompted.
"On it, Mia", he answered wryly.
"You've been trained well", she nodded.
"I don't need a babysitter", Letty rolled her eyes.
"You both need a babysitter", Mia frowned sternly. "Dominic."
Dom's hands went up innocently. "I don't have a badge for that."
Mia's hands went to her waist. "You were not trained well", she complained.
"Disagree", Letty smirked. "I retrained him."
"I'm not a dog", Dom muttered.
"You growl sometimes though", Letty muttered, grabbing her tennis shoes and shoving her feet into them one at a time.
Dom's lips curled back in mock snarl.
Brian hid a smile.
Mia groaned and got up to grab Apollo's leash from the counter. "Go to work. You're all awful."
"Let's move", Letty said, grabbing her things from the kitchen chair.
00
They were five minutes from the FBI building when Dom's cell phone rang. He put it on speakerphone. "Hobbs, we're on our way in."
"Davis and Roarke found the husband at his office downtown. They're bringing him in. This isn't an interrogation, got it? His wife is dead. Play it by the book or I'm kicking asses."
"Okay, Red Foreman", Brian grumbled under his breath. 'Foots in asses', he thought blandly.
"I heard that", Hobbs said dryly. "This family is no picnic, and there's already history so keep a lid on it."
Letty was banging her forehead on the back of Brian's headrest.
"Toretto, you can conduct a majority of the – friendly – interview. Ortiz, stay behind the glass with me."
"We'll be there in three minutes", Letty said in the direction of Dom's phone.
"One and a half", Brian countered, smirking slightly.
Dominic groaned. "Next time I'm driving."
"I'm going to stop taking care of your tickets, O'Conner", Hobbs sighed before hanging up.
"I can't still believe Hobbs is my boss", Dom muttered, sounding more incredulous than irritated.
"Your welcome", Letty said dryly from the backseat.
"Yeah… you don't want to know who they were going to give that position to", Brian said grimly. "We all would have gotten fired… repeatedly."
"How-?" Dom shook his head, choosing not to finish the question 'how do you get fired multiple times?'. "Never mind."
"Brian's just happy Stasiak got transferred to San Francisco", Letty drawled.
"Stasiak was an ass-kissing shit-stick", Brian said flatly.
"Best friends, huh", Dom snorted.
Brian's eyes just rolled.
0
Ten minutes later, Dom followed Brian into interview room three.
"Tom Crenshaw", Brian said walking into the room. "Agent O'Conner… do you remember me? This is my partner Agent Toretto."
Dominic got his first good look at Tom Crenshaw, age forty-one, computer systems analyst: short, spiky brown hair, green eyes, the file said the man was six-feet tall. He was sitting in the metal chair, but he was slightly muscular in build, and Dom could see the man was used to taking up space in a room.
"I remember you, Agent O'Conner." Of course he remembered. They'd accused him of murdering his mother.
"Your son, Tanner… he's twelve now, right? Is someone taking care of him?" Brian asked quietly.
"Tanner is with my brother." Tom said quietly. "Where's your girl?" he asked after a minute, staring toward the reflective glass wall.
"You seem awfully unconcerned about your dead wife", Brian said sharply.
"Hey, if I get a choice to stare at a pretty face over yours-"
"You probably piss off a lot of people talking like you're still in a frat house in college, don't you, Tom?"
Dominic sent a warning look at Brian. "Tom, how about you give us a run-down of your day", he said calmly.
Tom Crenshaw started to talk, his cavalier attitude dissipating. It started with his alarm going off, and ended with the agents coming to his work. He said he saw Molly at home around seven-thirty before he left for work that morning, and that he spoke to her on the phone around eleven when she called to ask him about dinner.
"Is there anything else you can tell us, Tom?" Brian asked finally.
Tom raked his hands over his face, letting out a harsh breath. "Molly and I had our problems, you know… but we've been together since college. We have- had- god- Tanner. We had a family. It wasn't perfect, but I loved her. I'd never hurt her. You have to find out who did this."
"We have every intention of finding out who killed your wife", Dom said. "We are very sorry for your loss."
"Can I see her?"
Brian nodded and sent a text on his phone. A minute later, Agent Davis opened the door to the interrogation room. "Agent Davis will take you down to the morgue", he said somberly.
Five minutes later, now on the other side of the double-sided mirror, Dominic stared between Hobbs, Letty, and Brian as he fought back irritation. "Someone tell me what the fuck is going on. Now."
Letty sighed. "Let's do this in my office. Brian-"
"You really want to bring that file back out now?"
"No, but there's a lot of history that may give us motive. If not, we'll at least be able to clear the family members and start fresh."
Brian sighed. "I'll go get the box from Adam in the basement."
"Letty, go start on Molly's timeline for today, and then work backwards for the week. Dom, go see if tech pulled anything off her phone or her other devices", Hobbs delegated. "I'm going to check with Rachel in the morgue. We'll meet back in your office in an hour", he nodded at Letty. "Don't come empty handed."
00
A/N: And that would be chapter three! Finally. Let me know what you think! We just stumbled on a murder! **dun-dun-dun**