VIPER ♱ b. o'conner

09 : new assignment

He tried reaching for her arm, just for her to side step away from him. "Lo, please sit down. you've been on your leg too much lately." She knew that Brian was just concerened seeing as she was almost paralyzed from Johnny Tran's drive by fiasco but all it did was irritate her in this moment.

"Shut up. I can't believe that you are so nonchalant about going into a death trap but I can't be on my leg for more than a few minutes without you going Nurse Nancy on me." She spat in irritation which only made Brian laugh and shake his head while standing up in front of her. He could handle her attitude by now so it didn't really phase him at this point.

"You're scared, Lo. Know you are especially with the stuff that happened in LA bu-" Lala came to a dead stop and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You can't even say it. Can you?" She glared at him, her fearful standpoint turned into one of anger and grief. "Stuff? Jesse dying isn't just stuff, Brian. You know what? We haven't gotten into this so let's do it."

Brian shook his head and grabbed the bag. "No, I have to deal with this. I don't want to talk about this."

She ripped the bag out of his hand with a venomous look on her face. "He did it because of you. but you know that, right?"

"What? Who did what because of me?" He feigned a confused expression as Lala seethed in front of him. He knew what she meant and he hated himself for it.

"Jesse threw his slip because you did it. He thought you were the best person he met since Dominic or Leon and he wanted to be just like you. That's what he told me the night before the races. He told me that one day he would have the balls to throw down slips, win or lose, and have a smile on his face because he finally had the confidence to put it on the line." Lala shook her head, tears filled her eyes and Brian was silently crying from the second she said his name. "Jesse died, Brian. He died because he wanted to be like you so badly. Please just don't make his death be for nothing."

Brian sat back on the bed and wiped his eyes. He refused to talk about LA with anyone especially Lala but he knew that he needed that reality check from her. His soft sniffles filled the thick air between the two before he cleared his throat.

"I-If we bring in Verone, they wipe Rome's record. He'll get a fresh start and I can make things right. I can't do that for Dom or Letty or the others yet but I can do it for Rome." He looked up at her, sadness and despair filled his eyes. Unknown to Lala, he was also getting hers cleared too. "I have to fly back to Barstow to get him in an hour and then we'll be back and explain everything better."

Lala gave him a soft kiss on his forehead. " I can't say anything more to make you change your mind so...do what you have to do, but come back to me."

Brian smiled sadly and pulled her down to him. "I can handle this. If I can't then I'll see if we can pull you in."

She sighed and wrapped her arms around him, her hands rubbing his back lovingly, feeling him relax under her touch. "Just because I gave you the name Bullitt does not mean I want you to get hit with any. Got me?"

"Yes ma'am." Brian closed his eyes and put his head in the crease of her neck just breathing in her scent. "Bilkins will be here in thirty."

"I should let you get ready to go." She started to pull away but he wouldn't let her go. He needed to be held by her right now, hopefully forever.

"Just hold me." He spoke in a whisper and she stayed silent but wrapped her arms back to their previous position. As mad as she was about Jesse's death, she didn't want to blame Brian anymore. So much anger and resentment towards him was under her surface without her even realizing it. Maybe that's why she was so hesitant to get back together with him. Because she knew that regardless of her love for him, everything would've been different had he just been honest from the start.