They sat at the kitchen table, the smell of seasoned chicken in the air. 

Brian hoped the worst he could expect was a thrown punch from Vince before Dom stepped in.  He grasped a Corona in one hand, wishing not for the first time since all this began that he had a cigarette.

Dom was to his right, Leon to his left, Vince and Letty sitting opposite.  Dom had asked Mia to give them some time to talk.  It concerned the trucks, he'd told her and she'd left without another word. 

Brian could only be grateful he'd gone straight for Dom and hadn't tried to work through her.  It was different, easier to explain to Dom.  His feelings for the guy were genuine at least.

Dom had kept Jesse away too, honouring Brian's request to explain the situation to him personally.  Brian really got on with Jesse, he didn't want that destroyed if he could help it.

Once Mia had closed the door behind her, Dom straightened and just that action immediately drew the attention of the others

"Okay, here's the deal.  Brian's a cop."  Vince was on his feet in a moment but Brian was ready for it and he blocked the punch with his free hand.

Dom just glared at him. 

"! told you, man!"  He backed off but almost howled in triumph.  "Lemme waste him."

Brian wisely kept quiet while Dom pointed out, "He didn't have to come clean.  You know that and I know that."  Brian thought he might have missed something then, but whatever it was Vince sat back down reluctantly. 

He glanced at Letty and Leon who were staring at him with barely disguised hatred but it was at least tempered.

"So why the sudden change of heart, pretty boy?"  Vince was practically growling.

Brian didn't answer, didn't even react.

"Cut it out, Vince."  Dom made it almost a command.  "We knew it would come to this.  The FBI and LAPD are comin' down on the crew jacking the trucks – on *us*.  Brian's people are sure I'm involved but that's it, that's why he's here."

"Fucking narc."  Vince was still staring daggers, dark eyes not wavering from Brian's face, apparently hoping Dom would just leave the room for a couple of minutes.  Brian stared back, just the right side of arrogant, far from apologetic.

"The truckers are arming themselves, some with shotguns.  I don't know about you all but I don't need another hole anywhere and neither does Jesse."

"So we're quitting," Letty looked from Dom to Leon, ignoring Brian, "because some blond undercover cop tells us to?"

"I'm just saying we're not going out again for a while.  I'm not going back to jail.”

"What about the cars?" Leon asked, nodding, more accepting than the other two.

"There's no way they can link us with this without Brian, even if they find the cars and they don't know where to look, right?"  Dom looked at Brian, the question underpinned by the trust that had just somehow come naturally to them.

For Brian, it was a relief to know Dom had meant what he'd said and done in the garage.  He honestly hadn't been sure.  He nodded.  "They don't know anything concrete, they have no idea about the cars.  The only thing they had was me."

Letty sneered.  "Had?"

"This is exactly what he wants, brother!"  Vince's chair toppled over with a dull crack as he launched himself across the table.  “You've given him what he needs and now…” he got one hand tangled in Brian's hair, the other locked around his throat as he took them both to the floor, “…he's gonna take everything back to the cops!"

By the time he'd finished the sentence, Brian had brought the base of his beer bottle down against the side of Vince's head.  In the moment Vince released him, he used the advantage of agility to slide out from under the bigger man, pinning him face down, straddling his hips and pulling one of Vince's arms back and up, holding him in place.

He glanced up at Dom who was watching him with something akin to pride.

"Dom!"  Vince ground the name out from between clenched teeth.

But he was shaking his head.  "Which part of 'Brian's a cop' wasn't clear?" he asked the man on the floor.

Brian looked up at the other two, gauging their reactions.  Leon looked oddly relieved.  Letty looked pissed, glaring at Dom.

"Two things," Dom stated, pointing a finger in the air.  "Brian and I tell Jesse.  And no one goes near the cars.  If the cops do find them they're likely to watch them rather than impound them."

"What do we do about him?"  Letty nodded towards Brian where he was still keeping Vince pinned to the kitchen floor.

With a wry smile, Dom replied, "I think we should let Brian finish him off."

"Dom...."

His voice got hard.  "You all do nothing about him.  Brian's made his choice, he has to live with the consequences."  He met Brian's eyes direct, saying almost to himself, "He's a part of me now."

Pushing her chair back, Letty left the room with as much drama as she could muster.

Brian rose gracefully and released his prisoner, righting his chair and dropping back onto it.  Vince had a death threat in his eyes as he picked himself up.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, bro?" he asked Dom without looking at him.

Dom ignored the question, and pointing a finger at Leon, moving it in an arc through to air to Vince, he said, "Are we clear?"

Leon nodded.  "We're cool, man.  I was never in it to get myself killed."

"Vince?"

"Whatever."  He followed Letty without a backwards glance.

Leaning across the table, Brian got Leon's attention.  "I'm sorry."

Leon shrugged.  "Hey, like Dominic says, you coulda just turned us in.  Bound to happen one day - we got lucky with you.  We owe ya.”  He glanced at Dom.  “I'd better go after them, try to make at least one of them see sense."

"Thanks."

"No problem."  The door clicked shut behind him.

Dom stared after him for a moment.  "He's right.  We did get lucky."

"And here's me thinking there was just the two of us out there in the garage."  Brian smiled, raising his eyebrows.  "You know, maybe I should put some distance between us for a while."

"Why?  You worried about your rep?"

"Nah, man.  My rep's down the toilet.  But it might be easier on Vince.  And Letty…?"

"I'll worry about Letty, and Vince won't touch you."

"I never wanted to break up your family, Dom."

"Bullshit.  That's why you came here."  The flash of anger was gone as quickly as it had manifested.  "First undercover case, huh?"

"It's that obvious?  Any ways, I think I blew it."

"It it's any consolation, you were very convincing."

Brian smiled a particularly unconvincing smile. "I doubt Tanner feels the same way."

"Tanner?"

"My sergeant."

For a while they just sat together, drinking the beer slowly.

"What'll they do to you?"

Brian shrugged.  "I don't know.  Tanner's already accused me of going native."

"Going native?  That like going commando?"

It worked.  Brian chuckled softly but didn't insult Dom by trying to explain.  He was quiet for a minute or two, picking the label off his bottle.

"My Mom died giving birth to me - there were... complications.  My Dad was a cop, killed in the line of duty by a guy coming out of a bank with a sawn-off shotgun.  As a kid I hated everyone.  I got into boosting cars, working for some guy out of a warehouse by the docks.  I made a couple of friends.  Made some enemies too.  When they caught me I was driving a Ferrari 359 through Long Beach at over a hundred.  It belonged to some movie producer.  He had my ass thrown in jail for two years not because I'd stolen it but because I'd scratched it."

He looked up, saw the anger reflected in Dom's eyes.

"When I got out, one of the other guys from the warehouse was there to meet me - Roman Pearce.  If he'd have still been into the scene I would have followed him right back in but he'd quit and had got into street racing.  So I tagged along.  And believe it or not, I grew up over the next couple of years.  The aunt and uncle who'd been trying to raise me took me back in, told me all about my parents, everything I didn't know.  And I decided I wanted to be a cop.  I blew them away at the academy - must have had some natural talent for it, they said.  Aced the driving school and the firing range.  A couple of weeks back, getting my detective badge was the most important thing in the world to me."

Dom asked softly, "What changed?"

"You did.  You weren't supposed to be like this."

He sat back with a wry smile, arm sweeping over the clear surface of the table.  "How was I supposed to be?"

"A brutal, petrol-head thug.  Someone I needed to be wary around."

"Ha."  Dom snorted, shaking his head.  "Didn't know you knew the meaning of the word."  Brian regarded him, unamused and he straightened up.  "So what are you telling me?  They sent you undercover to bust a guy they thought would happyily beat you to death with garage tools if he found out what you were up to?"

"That about sums it up."

"And you were happy with that arrangement?"

"Nervous at first.  Until I first saw you at the store.  You didn't look like the type who was going to blow my brains out for no good reason."  He deliberately avoided mentioning garage tools.

"You're a cop.  Wouldn't that be good enough reason?"

"Sure, but you weren't supposed to find out."

Dom smiled.  "So how were you planning on playing me?  Assuming what we did in the garage wasn't part of the plan."

Brian gazed at him for a long moment.  "I'm not telling you, you'll kill me."

"I'm not gonna kill you.  You've told me you're an undercover cop and you're still breathing."

"Not the same, man."

"Bri..." he leaned forward, "...what we did out there?  What you said it was for me?  You were right.  I don't make a habit of getting to know every smart ass street racer that comes along."

"Just me, huh?"

Dom smiled and with a touch of sarcasm, confirmed, "Just you."  Getting up, he liberated another two Coronas from the fridge.  Handing one to Brian, he hesitated before letting go of the bottle.  "That why they chose you for this job?"

Brian watched him sit back down.  "They chose me because I know my way around the culture, the cars and I can drive."

"So your looks never came into it?"

Laughing, Brian shook his head.  "You think it says ‘likes blue eyed, blond haired guys' in your file?"

"Ah, but you said I wasn't the mark."

"You were the mark, just not the target.  You wouldn't have been my first choice by way of an 'in'."

"So who...."  But Brian could see the truth finally dawn - the realisation shape the usually gentle features.  "Mia.  You...."

He held up his hand, fingers spread, palm out.  "I would never have done anything to hurt her.  She's friendly and she's beautiful but I wouldn't do that.  I didn't do it to you."

Dom took a deep breath, letting it out through his nose as he sank half the beer in one swallow.

"How about you start from the start, just so there's no more misunderstandings?  Then we'll figure out where to go from here."