Han and Ravenna were the first ones to arrive at the base in London. Ravenna hugged Brian the moment she saw him, a smile on her face. Then Han hugged him as well. "Good to see you two." Brian said, crossing his arms.
"You cut into our Hong Kong stay, dude." Han complained.
"It was necessary."
"Maybe but we were really enjoying ourselves." Outside of Brian, Mia, and Dom, the rest of the team had no idea that Han and Ravenna had gotten together during their travels. It just wasn't something they were going to advertise, especially to Roman. Even if Ravenna considered Roman her best friend. He was always checking in whenever he could, making sure she was okay.
The back of Ravenna's hand smacked Han's chest lightly. "What he means is, thankfully Hong Kong doesn't have any rules on foreigners owning property. We should be fine until this is all over." Ravenna said. She shot Han a look, "Besides, this is Letty we're talking about. Anything to get her back." Ravenna stated, crossing her arms.
Brian nodded in agreement. "I just gotta ask," Han and Ravenna looked at Brian. "What are you gonna tell Roman and Tej? Y'know..." Brian gestured back and forth between Han and Ravenna. "Rome is gonna be mad you didn't tell him." Brian was aware of Ravenna and Roman's budding friendship.
Ravenna shrugged. "We'll figure out."
Han wrapped his arms around Ravenna. "We could always have them walk in on us kissing, that certainly would do it for them." Han smirked.
"Honestly, I don't need Roman on our asses about being together."
"He's gonna be on our asses because he thinks we should be together." Han said.
Ravenna sighed. She really didn't want to deal with that either. Ravenna looked up at Han. "Yeah, let's not tell them." Ravenna said. Han agreed. He didn't want to talk about his relationship with anyone.
"Raven, look at all this." Brian said. Raven's eyes widened at the sight of the weapons they were allowed to use. She approached the table with a twinkle in her eye. Han laughed at his girlfriend's reaction. "Oh, and Mia packed a few snacks in my bag if you want anything, Han." Brian said.
Ravenna looked over the guns and different weapons they were allowed to use. It was a dream just seeing some of them. It was insane. Ravenna picked up one of the guns, looking it over. Just as she went to pick up another gun, the elevator doors opened. Tej and Roman climbed out, looking over the new digs.
Tej sighed happily. "Thank God! Finally, some equipment I can work with." Tej said.
"What up, boy?" Roman said to Han.
"This is way better than the trash in Rio." Tej added.
Ravenna cocked the gun back. "You have no fucking idea." She put the gun back down. "Hey Rome."
"Ravi." Roman waved from where he was standing by the table. He was peeking into the file on the table.
"Has anybody heard from Leo or Santos?" Brian asked.
"Las time anyone saw them, they were hittin' up the casinos in Monte Carlo." Han said, leaning himself against the wall.
Ravenna scoffed, "Blowing through their 10 million quickly. They are shit at blackjack." Ravenna rolled her eyes.
"I thought that was our last job, Brian. And who's payin' for all this equipment? The taxpayers?" Ravenna smiled at Roman, casually glancing around him as Agent Hobbs and his new partner approached. "So now we work for the Hulk? What's what we're doin'?" Brian stood next to Ravenna, also keeping his mouth shut. "Why do I smell baby oil?" Roman asked.
"If you keep runnin' your piehole," Roman actually jumped when he heard Hobbs behind him. "You're gonna smell an ass-kicking." Hobbs stated.
"All right, Hobbs," Those were the first words that Ravenna heard from Dom. He didn't even acknowledge them when they entered. "You got the best crew in the world standing right in front of you. Give them a reason to stay." Dom ordered.
Ravenna looked over at Hobbs before moving away from the weapons table. She approached the other table, seeing the file and the maps across it. Ravenna was very curious to find out how Letty was still alive after all these years.
Hobbs looked at the team before beginning the explanation. "Our target is Owen Shaw." The file on Shaw was dropped onto the table. "Former major in the SAS, Spec-ops soldier. He runs the UK's Mobility Division in Kabul and Basra." Hobbs explained.
"Ah damn. That Mobility unit's the truth.' Tej said as he walked away from the computer system. "We're talkin' vehicular warfare. Best in the world." Tej stood next to Ravenna. "Those guys don't mess around." He added.
Ravenna glanced over to Han, seeing Roman asking him a question. Han flipped the bag upside-down to show Roman he finished his snack. She shook her head before looking back at Hobbs.
"For years, they've been running jobs in Europe, but it's their most recent jobs that graduated them to a whole new level. Three targets, highly specific. The program terminal from the ICAM missile..." Ravenna's attention was taken away from Hobbs when Roman leaned towards Tej, asking if he had any change.
"Seriously? You're a millionaire, and you're still tryin' to ask for money?" Tej asked.
Hobbs stopped talking, looking over at Roman and Tej. Tej ultimately gave him the change for the vending machine behind them.
"That's how you stay a millionaire."
Ravenna scoffed. "En olla." She said under her breath. Roman shot her a look, trying to figure out what she just said to him. Ravenna lifted her head up, giving him a smirk. "En olla." Ravenna repeated, this time louder.
Han had to keep his snicker to himself. He looked up at the light above him, trying to stop himself from laughing. In the almost two years he had been with Ravenna, he learned a lot of the slang that the Dominican people used on a daily basis. One being "en olla" which basically translated into "to be broke." And right now, Roman was definitely acting broke.
Han wouldn't be surprised if Roman blew through his millions before Santos and Leo did.
"What the hell does that-"
"Go get your snack." Hobbs interrupted. Roman looked over at him before moving away from the table to go to the venting machine provided for them.
Brian was looking through the file, reading over some of the details. "So what does this all mean?" Brian asked, getting the initial meeting back on track.
"Well, our best guess is that Shaw's crew is building a Nightshade device." Hobbs stated.
Ravenna held up her hand, "Which is?"
"A tech bomb." Agent Riley Hicks stated. "Designed to block an entire military communication grid for 24 hours."
Ravenna lowered her hand back to her side. When she asked the question, she wasn't expecting that type of answer. She looked over at Tej and Han, they both looked just as concerned as her.
"If you blind a soldier for a single second in the middle of a fight, he dies. If you blind a country for 24 hours, the loss of life is unthinkable." Honestly, Ravenna didn't even want to think about what the possibility would be like - it was nightmare fuel. "This could be worth billions to the right buyer." Hobbs added.
"Billions?" Tej questioned. "Why don't we just steal that shit?" He was asking a very good question - if they were able to steal $100 million, then they could steal something worth billions.
"Hey man!" Roman called out. Ravenna lowered her head. "Which one of these things is a dollar?" Roman barely got out of the way of the shattering glass. Hobbs pointed his gun straight at the vending machine, giving them whatever they wanted. He was just tired of Roman's bullshit.
"It's on the house." Hobbs said. Ravenna glanced over at Han, keeping the laughter to herself. Hobbs continued, "I want you to help me catch Shaw." Ravenna found it hilarious that Hobbs of all people was asking the same team that stole millions of dollars to help him catch Shaw. "He's only got one piece left that he needs and I intend to stop him before he gets it. Now, I know you guys are a family, so I'm offering you a chance right now to make that family whole again."
Ravenna's eyes fell onto the file on Letty Ortiz. Seeing Letty's picture really set everything in Ravenna's mind. They had to bring Letty home, no matter how hard it would be or how long it would take. Ravenna looked over at Han.
"You want to make this family whole again?" Brian questioned. "Get us to Letty, we'll get you Shaw, full pardons all the way around." Ravenna turned her head suddenly to Brian. Then she looked at Hobbs - it was the only way they'd do it his way and not their way.
"I can't promise you that." Hobbs stated.
"Yes, you can."
Dom approached, standing between Brian and Ravenna. "That's the deal. Take it or leave it." Dom said.
Hobbs looked across the crew, seeing they were all in the same boat as Dom and Brian, they wanted those pardons, they wanted their freedom back. "You get me Shaw, and I'll get your pardons." Hobbs said.
"You heard 'im," Ravenna nodded. "But this is different. We're not dealing with cops, we're not dealing with drug dealers. This is a whole different level." Brian said.
Everyone knew that getting Letty back was the priority. Even if two out of the six had never met or worked with her before. Letty was family, and she was out there.
"We're gettin' paid, right?"
Ravenna rolled her eyes. "En olla."
—
Ravenna looked down at Interpol creating a sting, putting one of Shaw's men back into his grasp and getting what they needed from him. Ravenna looked through the binoculars at the scene before them. Tej was behind them, intercepting the comms from down below as Hobbs explained to the crew what was happening. One thing didn't make sense to Ravenna.
"If you know where the hideout is, why aren't we down there with them?" Ravenna asked.
"Well, we weren't invited."
"Oh, so we're here illegally," Ravenna commented, looking through the binoculars again. "Just adding more to that pardon, aren't you?" Ravenna asked.
"Hobbs, they're sending in your punching bag." Tej said.
Ravenna watched the man walk forward towards the abandoned building. She lowered the binoculars when she lost sight of him. "He's inside." Ravenna said, glancing back at Tej. He nodded, tapping into the wire.
"I got confirmation on Shaw. They're goin' in." Ravenna lifted her binoculars back up to her eyes, watching Interpol enter the building in herds. "Wait, wait, hold up!" Ravenna looked over at Tej, wondering what was happening. "Police scanners are saying alarms are going off at Interpol headquarters." Tej explained.
"Shit." Brian cursed loudly. "He brought us here so he could take down Interpol. This whole thing's a set-up." Brian said.
"Brian, take the team."
"What about you?"
"Hobbs and I will wait for Shaw. Shaw leads to Letty."
Ravenna passed the binoculars to Hobbs, heading off to one of the cars. She grabbed a gun in the process, cocking it back without even thinking. Ravenna climbed into the car, starting the engine.
"Han, how far are we from Interpol?" Brian asked once they hit the street. He was leading the way.
"Twelve blocks away."
"You guys, it's a ghost town over here. Shaw must have pulled all the cops to him." Tej said.
"All right, y'all, we're in this shit, so let's go get it."
Ravanna smirked as she drove next to Han, speeding down the road towards Interpol. Speeding through redlights and cutting off traffic to get to Interpol just added up the offenses that Hobbs would have to deal with for their pardons. The crew was taking advantage of that.
"Interpol, straight ahead."
Before they got to Interpol, bullets started flying at their cars. It was Brian, Han, and Ravenna who got out of their cars, guns aimed and firing as Shaw's team came out of Interpol. Ravenna stood up from where she was kneeling, shooting in the direction of Shaw's team, trying to shoot one of them without getting shot herself. She ducked when bullets hit her car.
"What kind of fucking car is that?!" Ravenna asked, seeing the much smaller car. It was so weird and compacted.
Brian ignored her, shouting for them to get into their cars. However, Ravenna put another clip in, running forward to shoot at the cars before they drove off, trying to take out the tires. Before Ravenna could shoot, her feet were lifted off the ground and rolled to the left side of Han. He hid them behind the postbox. Ravenna covered her head and face with her arms as things flew around them. Han was doing the same, but protecting Raven more than himself.
Ravenna pulled her legs up, pressing herself up against Han. When the bullets stopped flying, Han checked his clip before looking around the postbox. Ravenna looked at Han, realizing how much he really did love her - he just ran and almost took a bullet for her. He protected her when bullets were flying, holding her and covering her head. But at the same time, Ravenna didn't know what came over her, she didn't usually do that, knowing there was an active shooter from above. She just walked out in the open, knowing she'd get shot, potentially killed.
Ravenna looked over to their cars, seeing Brian, Tej, and Roman were off following Shaw's team. She sighed, leaning her back against the postbox.
Shaw's crew was insane.
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6k reads and over 250 votes, you guys are insane. Thank you so much. I feel like I'm always mentioning the reads and votes each week but I'm just happy. That's all.
Let me know when I can talk spoilers, 'cause I finished writing Ravenna in Fast X and I have so many thoughts on a second rewatch. Dom's comment on "fatherhood" in particular to Han. I swear...
Anyway, I've been in such a writing slump since July started. I finished writing all of Dreamin', I'm on Fate of Furious for And Stay, but I can't seem to write anything else. I have so many stories (which you'd think would be the problem, it's not), some stories you guys don't even see because I write on several different sites. I'm just unmotivated or uninspired to write them.
Like I want to write, but every document I open, I just stare blankly at it. It is very annoying. -_-