At 1:30 AM on a rainy October night, Dominic Toretto could be found sitting at his kitchen table, waiting for Bryan to come home. At footsteps on the stairs he turned to find his stepdaughter, Isobel, descending.

He folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at her, "What are you doing up?" he queried.

Brian's 16 year-old daughter smirked at him, jutting a hip out, "I could ask you the same thing Pops."

Dominic appraised her, hiding amusement at her giving him a taste of his own attitude; he'd always personally worried they'd screw her up somehow but she'd turned out pretty amazing if you asked him. When shed been dropped off in the middle of the night at barely a few months old, by a girl Brian barely remembered hooking up with, they'd all been at a bit of a loss, but one gaze into those baby blues (so much like her father's) and Brian had been sincerely smitten. Mia, despite breaking up with Brian weeks previously, had jumped right into things, excited to be buying little girl's dresses and dolls and stuff. The boys had taken to Izzy, as she was called, and by the time she could walk she had not only Brian, but Dom, Vince, Rome, Leon, and Tej wrapped around her tiny finger.

He answered her question, "I'm waiting for your dad to come home. He was supposed to come off shift by midnight."

Izzy made a face at him, "It's a stakeout Pops, He and Tony probably went to get food after sitting in a car for like nine-billion hours."

Dom couldn't help but smile at her calling him "Pops." When he and Brian had gotten together (were pushed together really, by Mia, of course.) they'd both decided that if their relationship between either of them and Iz, that they'd end it. But here they were sixteen years later and Izzy had grown up calling Brian "Daddy" and Dom "Papa" and "Pops."

"Your brother still asleep?" Dom asked.

"Passed the fuck OUT." Izzy replied.

"Watch your mouth." He said without conviction.

Iz had been seven when he and Brian had started discussing adopting another baby, but all that had been put on hold when Iz was diagnosed with leukemia. Their plans were put on hold through three grueling years of chemo, radiation, blood tests, MRIs, CT scans, nausea, vomiting, 3 midnight calls to 911, 12 specialists, and not one, but two moments where the words, "Code Blue" were uttered and Dom's heart stopped. Dom never wanted to be that scared again, never wanted to see Brian that scared again. They'd waited an additional year into remission before finding a surrogate (Brian had joked that now they were the cliché gay couple) and Anthony Jesse Toretto was born when Izzy was 12. Their little blue-eyed, blonde was just as good at wrapping people around his finger as his sister was, though she happened to be his biggest fan.

Izzy stood on tiptoe to grab a bowl from the cabinet (she'd apparently inherited her mother's height as well as her dark hair, though her blue eyes were all Brian's) and poured herself a bowl of Fruit Loops. She followed Dom into the living room and plopped down on the couch beside him.

The room was silent for a few moments, "Do you worry? About Dad?" she asked softly.

Dom glanced at her, surprised, "Do you?"

Her blue eyes bored into him, expressing concern at the answer they both knew to be true: Brian never came home more than half an hour late without calling, "He's fine Princess. I'm not worried." he lied, allowing her to prop her head on his leg and drifting off.

Dom tried to read some automotive magazine and not worry. But it was Brian they were talking about, and Brian tended to be a moron when it came to his own personal safety. He'd improved since the trucks, thank God, no more leaping between moving vehicles, but he tended on the stupidly reckless and they all knew it.

But God, Dom adored him.

Brian was, to put it honestly, a spaz. He was a complete and total dork most days, but he reminded Dom to laugh and enjoy the little moments and For-God's-sake-stop-taking-things-so-fuckin'-SERIOUSLY-Dom-I-mean-it-you-asshole. They both loved fiercely and deeply, they both valued loyalty and family and were adrenaline junkies to the core. Brian lightened and calmed Dominic while Dom grounded him and kept Bri's head out of the clouds. They were sorta perfect in a crazy way. And Dom simply adored Brian (he was even 98% sure the feeling was mutual)

He'd just dozed off when keys scraped in the lock and Brian walked in and paused, "I get a welcoming committee now?" he chuckled.

Izzy stirred and then leapt up, "Daddy!" hurling herself across the room to hug him tightly before pulling back to berate him, ""You know, a phone call would have been nice so we didn't wait up and worry, Dad."

Brian hugged his daughter back and patiently waited for the lecture to end before explaining, "I'm sorry Princess. My phone died and then time got away from me... Don't you have school tomorrow? It's 3 AM."

"I'll be fine." she waved his concerns off.

"Isobel."

Iz glared at her father for a moment before she hugged her father, kissed the top of Dom's bald head and scurried up the stairs to bed.

Dom stood and kissed his husband, "Don't think I didn't see that flinch with your shoulder when she jumped on you. What, you pull it again?"

Brian looked away guiltily, "Something like that."

"Brian." Dom wanted to laugh when Bri made the same guilty face his daughter had made only a moment before.

Brian opened his mouth, ostensibly to lie, looked at Dom, sighed and muttered something indecipherable.

"Excuse me?"

"I got shot."

"Again?"

"Again."

"Mmhmm. And how did that happen, Dear?"

Brian sighed, flopping down on the couch and running his good hand over his face.

Dom softened and sat down, wrapping an arm around his husband, "Bad day?"

Bri nodded, "Our inside man got found out. We had to move in early. I took a bullet for the trouble and our guy still didn't make it."

"You're an idiot." Dom said affectionately.

Brian snuggled closer, "But I'm your idiot."

"You are."