Disclaimer- Not mine, so don't sue.

Chapter- 9: Strategy

Authors Note- I know, I'm such a horrific failure for not updating in almost two years! I am very, very sorry to all of you who have been waiting, and to those who have simply given up. A string of real life issues hit me one after another, and then I just got busy. All of which combined made me lose inspiration for this fiction, and many others. But I've recently seen Fast Five, and it rekindled the spark! How cool was it that I totally called the (after credit) twist in this fic? Anyway. I bet you guys want to get to reading!

To those who have stuck with this, and continue so even now, thank you so very much! You have my sincerest apologies! (This chapter is NOT beta'd, sorry for any/all mistakes!)

xoxo Crisis

Read +Review+ Enjoy!

-x-

Friday 10:02 PM

The small fire was just a spec of light from the interstate highway. That was at least one good thing about where they were going. Hundreds of miles out and even a crew of seven would blend in to the surroundings.

They had taken their vehicles off road hours before, no longer interested in going where any pavement could take them. From here on out there would be only dirt and rock. Just the six of them and their cars, and the breaths to which they would fight with to get Mia back.

Brian shifted uneasily as he leaned against the hood of his Nissan Skyline. His arms were folded over his chest, an unknowing act of guarding his heart. Dusk had come and gone hours before, the clouds shifting overhead yet his gaze remained fixated across the desert. An ache had settled deep in his heart, tugging at the bottom, threatening to spill the contents with rage and worry. With longing.

He missed her.

He missed her smile, he missed her laugh, the sound of her voice. He missed the way she would scowl at him and Dom or the way she would tuck her hair behind her ear.

It was nothing like the five year separation where he could keep an eye on her from afar.

A fire burned within the ex-cop. It was unknown what Mia was going through. Unknown yet all his fault. Why had he let her come along? Why didn't he go back to the garage with her? Why didn't he pull back and wait? He knew Braga was out to get them. He should've known the man would pull a stunt like this. They'd had warning, a warning that he failed to heed.

However, taking Mia was a whole new foul in a different ballpark. She was a Toretto. So widely known was the name, help wouldn't be difficult to acquire.

"You think Brian'll be alright?" Letty inhaled, leaning her head against Dom's shoulder. She felt him turn to look at the once naïve street racer. "It wasn't his fault you know. I did what I did to help you. In a way, Brian was doin' the same thing. Helpin you." Her fingers slid down is arm, finding his hand as she laced their fingers together.

"Yeah, well, doesn't change the fact that he could've told me. Thing about Brian is that he doesn't know when to tell the truth, to trust me."

"Can you blame him?" Dom glanced down to find her staring up at him, a small smile curving her lips. "There was a time when you were hard for trustin' anyone. At least he made an honest effort, even busted you out of custody. He turned his back on his whole life for you and Mia, Dom. He ain't got nothin', no one but us now." Leaning up, Letty pressed her lips to his, sighing into his mouth when he parted her lips with his tongue. She pulled back breathless, "Go talk to him."

Reluctant, Dom sighed and stood, though not before stealing another kiss. Letty smiled and turned back to the fire, taking a swig from her beer as Monica initiated a conversation he wasn't all too interested in hearing. He just couldn't believe that she was alive, here, with him. Shaking his head, he turned and made his way towards the man who had stolen his baby sisters heart.

"The more you think about it, the harder it's going to be." Dom's voice broke the silence. The dirt crunched beneath the man's feet as he strolled up, hands in his pockets, stopping beside the brooding blond.

Brian didn't bother to glance his way as he replied. "This should have never happened, Dom," he shook his head, looking down. "Mia should have never been involved."

"Mia knew what she was doing when the two of you bailed me out. There was nothing either of us could have done to have stopped her. She's a Toretto, lives her life a quarter mile at a time. Now, instead of glaring at Mexico, you should be getting some sleep. I don't need you slowin' me down tomorrow."

"Slowing you down?" Brian scoffed, shuffling his foot. Laughter erupted behind them, breaking the tension that lingered in the air around them. With Letty back, things had almost been complete again. The two most important women in their life and they couldn't keep their hands on them.

"We're goin' to get her back, Brian. Nothin's impossible, so get your head out the clouds cause this," Dom pointed towards their looming destination, "is only the beginning."

The wind rustled around them, warm against their cheeks. Time passed quietly save the half drunk bunch sitting around the fire. Brian contemplated Dom's words, weighing them heavily on his conscience. The rogue street racer was right. Thinking negatively would give him less than positive results. Braga had made one of the biggest mistakes any fool could make, and they had nearly all the time in the world because of it.

Pushing up off the hood of his car, Brian gave a single nod to his friend, letting his arms swing down to his sides.

As Dom turned to head back to the group, Brian stopped him. "Braga's mine." The words seemed to have stopped time itself as Dom neither moved nor breathed. Persisting, Brian's footsteps grew closer. "I know that she's your sister, but I love her. I lover her, Dom, and I don't care what anyone says. Braga is mine."

An eternity could have passed but neither would have noticed. The chatter had died out, the only sound coming from the crackling fire as it popped hot cinders onto the ground. Brian held his ground, his jaw set, shoulders squared. When Dom finally looked his way, he was surprised to see a smile on the man's face.

"Whatever you say, Buster. But he ain't comin out of Mexico alive. I'm telling you that right now."

"Well that works out just fine then. Because I don't plan on letting the bastard live."

Brian stepped passed Dom then, joining the others around the fire. Monica was laying back against Vince's car. Vince and Leon were quietly waiting for the briefing. If this were a job, it would come only when Toretto joined them.

Dominic watched with a ghost of a smile on his face as Letty moved to sit next to the blonde buster. A buster who was an ex-cop, something that had failed to cross his mind as of late. Despite the past, Brian was unknowingly making amends towards his actions, earning everyone's trust all over again.

When Dom entered the circle, Letty maneuvered herself into his lap, easing against his large frame with a natural elegance for someone who spent her life under the hood of a car.

The conversation around them slowly ceased, all eyes turning to the un-proclaimed leaders.

"Tomorrow ain't goin to be a walk in the park. Don't even think of it as a street race. Once we're in, there's no goin back. You need to be prepared for what might happen," Dom paused as Brian shifted uncomfortably next to him, "and what might've already happened."

Roman chucked his empty beer bottle out into the darkness, bringing his attention towards Dom as he hooked his arms around his knees, bending them in a half arch.

"Damn man, how do you say goodbye to your only sister?"

"I don't." Dom deadpanned, quick and final.

Picking up a half broken twig, Brian twirled it between his fingers, looking from one pair of eyes to another. "Braga needs Mia alive. He wants to get back at us, and I can't think of anything more painful than being forced to watch as he hurts her."

"We just got one problem though." Letty began, "Braga's place will be crawlin' with rats. The ones that carry the big guns. He'll be prepared, his eyes will be everywhere."

Brian gave a shrug and a nod, as if it should have been known. "Well so are we. That is, if you're all still in. Once we go in there, that's it. There's a good chance we might not be coming back out."

Roman leaned forward, his eyes growing wide as his eyebrows rode in a furtive manner. "Might not be comin back out? Yo, Brian. I didn't come here to get my ass into more trouble."

"You don't have to come with us, Rome. You're more than welcome to get the hell out of here. But if I were you, I'd start walkin right now. Because that's a long way back to LA."

There was a moment of silence. Brian's sharp blue eyes never wavering. His gaze was a taciturn raptor, nothing but a glimpse as to what lay beneath. Something dark and lethal, a man starved for retaliation.

Rome didn't have it in him to argue. Not when the situation were as serious as it were. Licking his lips, he couldn't believe the words that were about to come out of his mouth. "…Do we even have a plan?"

"Do we have a plan?" Dom asked incredulously, a dry laugh escaping his lips as he tightened his arms around Letty. "Yeah, we got a plan."

Brian nodded along, smirking as he flipped open his cell phone while they still had coverage. "Lets make some calls."

-x-

Saturday 12:28 AM

Mia sat with her back straight against the cold hard wall. A steady drip echoed from somewhere in the dungeon, the straw beneath her dug into her bottom uncomfortably. Moonlight shown from a thin window up high, barely enough room for her to crawl through should she manage to climb up. She could see the moon and the stars, and they appeared to be farther away than she'd ever known them to be. Down here, in this place, hope was a dwindling thing, yet she held tight to it.

Brian and Dom would come for her, she was sure of it, and even though her heart leapt because of it, Mia feared what would happen to them. They had barely survived the last time, what about now? When Braga was overly prepared. He expected them to show. She knew they would.

Biting her lower lip, she gave a small hiss in pain. A metallic taste filled her mouth, and she wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them tight to her chest so she could rest her head against them.

Earlier, when Braga had his men come to get her, she hadn't even imagined what the snake would have to say. He hadn't said much of anything. The encounter lasted minutes, maybe a half an hour to an hour, she wasn't so sure in this place. Her retorts to his snide remarks had put all the men in the room with them on edge. A particular nasty jab at them all forced one to lose his temper when she spit in his face. The back of his hand met her mouth, but did not dislodge her stance.

Braga had soothed the man only to promise that they could each take their turns with her once he had both Dom and Brian. Mia didn't want her brother to see her like this. She hated that she was being used as leverage. The leveled headed one out of the bunch had gotten herself captured.

"Way to go, Mia," she scoffed, rolling her head back against the wall. She couldn't even cry from the shame she felt, the fear. She could do nothing but run through in her head what could be done to escape this place in one piece. The bars on the door were stainless steel. None were lose in their crevices despite their aged appearance. The walls were sturdy in spite of the mold, and there was relatively nothing lying around that she could use as a weapon.

Deciding to resign herself to her fate for a few hours, she shifted towards the corner of the straw mattress, laying her body against the wall. The angle was perfect to see the window across from her. She gazed longingly at the stars and the moon, idly wondering what Brian was doing right this moment. If he was awake and seeing the same sight she was seeing. With him in mind, she was able to find comfort and slowly drifted off to sleep.

-x-

Brian laid in his reclined seat, staring out of the skylight window above. The night seemed peaceful, not at all mirroring his current mental state. It was a festering panic that kept his mind racing, kept him awake. He could think only of Mia, and how it didn't matter what happened so long as she got out alive. It seemed like just yesterday that he'd waltzed back into her life, that she had reclaimed his heart which had always been hers. Tomorrow would be no different. He would waltz in, and waltz right back out with her in toe.

End Notes: Let me know what you think the plan is! Next chapter, the action is upon us! :) Also, who has seen Fast Five? Was it awesome or was it AWE-SOME?