"Does anyone not understand the situation?" Luke asked. The transport plane rumbled around them, shaking occasionally as it encountered turbulence. Getting their cars in there had meant a tight squeeze, but they'd managed it. "The plans we made, any ideas you have, get thrown out."
He'd scrawled the words 'drive onto the plane and stay there' on a whiteboard before giving the green light to Nobody's men. Two black SUVs had driven into the warehouse, 'collected' the team and left for the highway. With the decoy in place, and everyone bar them unaware of what was happening, the chase had officially begun.
As much as Luke disliked it, keeping the team in the dark had been for their own protection. It hadn't taken much discussion with Deckard either - outside, of course - for him to see that course of action was necessary.
"Get some sleep while you can," Hobbs added. Ramsey had God's Eye running already, searching for the truck. She had indeed narrowed its location down to a fifty mile radius, which unfortunately included a busy highway with plenty of generic white trucks on it, refrigerated or otherwise. "We hit the convoy the moment it's found."
"Night, Dom." Brian pushed his seat back and looked across at the black Dodge and red Corvette. "See you in the morning, Letty."
"Good night, Brian." Dom gave a nod in response before stepping out of his car and walking the two feet to Letty's. She sat in the driver's seat, clutching the wheel firmly with one hand, staring at the GPS installed on her dash. The screen was black, the device turned off. "Hey, babe."
"Hey," Letty said. She stifled a yawn and gestured for Dom to hop in. Tonight, the last thing she wanted was to be left alone with her thoughts. Or Owen's words going around and around the track in her head. "What's up?"
"Just wanted to see how you're doing. Everything okay?"
"Really, Dom?" Years ago, she might've tried knocking some sense into him for asking that. Did he think everything was fucking okay? There was a guillotine named Cipher hanging over their heads. A ghost lurking behind her named Owen Shaw. "Aren't you getting a little tired of asking me that question every time something happens?"
"Sorry."
"Nah." Letty sighed and scrubbed her hands through her short hair. "I'm just tired." Or maybe hormonal was a better term. "But why don't you come here and give me a kiss?"
"You know I love you," Dom said. He popped open the passenger side door and slid in. "I always will."
"I know, Papi." She leaned across the center console, kissing him chastely on the lips. "But you're gonna have to expand that love a little."
There was never going to be a perfect time to tell Dom, or a right time, but he needed to know. She needed him to.
"What're you talking about, Letty?"
"Before I tell you, swear that you'll keep your voice down."
"I will. What's going on?"
"...I think I'm pregnant. I haven't had a chance to buy a test but I'm two months late, at least."
The look on his face sad it all: he had so much love to give that expanding it was a non-issue. He looked down at her stomach then back at her, eyes widening in surprise. "Pregnant?"
"Maybe. But until I know for sure-"
Dom kissed her, silencing her while his hands cupped her face. "Whatever happens, I've got you. You and our baby."
"Dom." Letty pulled away, stopping him in his tracks. Another mention of the B word and she'd knock him on his ass. "This can't change anything. I'm still on this mission with you and the team. I'm not stepping away or going into hiding."
If he'd looked her in the eye and said 'I'd never ask you to do that', she might have punched him. Letty wasn't about to sit back and allow him to lie to her face yet again.
Instead, he said, "Alright."
"I'm gonna see if one of the medics can't get me a test when we land," Letty said. It'd felt a little weird when she considered asking the medics on base, and she'd refused Elizabeth's offer to leave rather than taking it. Fuck, why hadn't she said yes and jumped in that car? A two hour drive might've solved all her problems. "But so far I'm not craving peanut butter and jalapeños, which means it isn't twins."
His hand clapped over his mouth as Dom chuckled. That had to have been her grandmother's fixation. Letty didn't talk to her Auntie much anymore, not since she'd moved away from Los Angeles, but even he knew the story of the terrible Ortiz sisters. Hell, everyone and their cousins knew it.
"I just didn't think-" Dom looked Letty up and down. "When we talked on Cipher's plane...This is what that was about?"
She nodded. There'd been no easy way to come out with it. God knew she was more than a little scared about having a human being potentially growing inside her. Up until she'd come home and found out Mia'd been pregnant, until she learned Mia was pregnant again, babies weren't a thing for Letty. Period.
Letty's family had always been the people who surrounded her, so there was no reason to expand or change that. Nor any to think that pregnancy was in the cards to begin with since she and Dom had always agreed on the use of contraceptives.
"Wow."
"Yeah, wow," she said awkwardly. As much as she didn't want to be alone with her thoughts, it turned out Letty didn't want to be around Dom's either. "Uh, I'm gonna get some sleep. You should too."
"Sure." Dom climbed out of Letty's Corvette and closed the door. "See you in the morning?"
"Uh-huh." It'd gone better than she thought it would, but Letty had a feeling his words were going to haunt her. A baby? She didn't even know if the pregnancy was real, and any test could easily come up with a false positive. Until her stomach swelled and tiny feet kicked the shit out of her ribs, there was no reason to get their hopes up. "Night, Dom."
"Bye, Letty."
The moment he walked away, her world returned to being silent. Ramsey was already asleep, Elizabeth wasn't here, and Mia...Mia was hiding. Protecting her children. Stuck on the sidelines, unable to do anything while she anxiously awaited the return of her husband and brother.
Jesus, was that the kind of future that awaited her?
Not that it mattered if they didn't make it out of this alive, and they had to. Marcus needed them.
Letty glanced out at the rest of the team, making sure no one was paying attention to her, then lifted the receiver of her radio and depressed the transmit button. "Uh, hi, this is Ortiz." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Can you patch me through to Base Alpha?"
"No can do, ma'am. They're on lockdown now."
Shit. Not even an hour after they'd left? Did something happen after the plane took off? "Mind if I ask why?"
"A vehicle was found abandoned. Visibly damaged and laying on its roof."
"Whose car?"
"I'm not at liberty to say, ma'am."
Letty scoffed and shoved the receiver into its holder. This wasn't some super secret clubhouse or the Pentagon. Someone could've been injured or worse, and he refused to tell her? Surely Hobbs might know more, but any and all questions would have to wait until morning.
Until she wasn't so tired that she couldn't kick his ass as well.
Rolling over in her seat, Letty shoved her jacket under her head, pushed her seat back and got as comfortable as she could. She half-closed her eyes, allowing the familiar rumble of a transport plane to lull her towards sleep. It wasn't quite the same as having her own bedroom onboard the Antonov, but at least she was in her own car.
Safe. Secure. Surrounded by her family.
And stuck on a plane with her on again, off again, does this even mean anything, ex-boss.
"Fuck off," Letty groaned before he could so much as tap on her window. "If it's not life or death, it can wait until morning, unless you want me to throw you off this plane."
"Can we talk?"
"No."
"A hundred million dollars, Letty. Just think of it. You could buy the track you've always wanted." It sounded good. Like all his other promises had, but none of them ever came to fruition. Owen Shaw was little more than a snake oil salesman in disguise. "As many cars and bikes as you could build. Refurbish that old shop and run a garage with your husband again."
"Shaw, there hasn't been an us since you threw that photo on the table and shoved the past in my face," Letty snapped. He hadn't pulled her aside or told her about the files beforehand. Instead, he'd embarrassed her. Interrogated her in front of the entire team while Vegh looked at her like she was the real enemy. "I'm not helping you do anything, so walk your ass back to your car before I do something I won't regret."
* * *
It was like being grounded, only this time she was an adult. Elizabeth winced as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her upper body, flinching with every breath she took. Her ribs ached, her chest throbbed - even her ass felt like it'd been repeatedly pummeled.
There wasn't a chance in hell she could keep this up for two weeks without going insane. Forty-eight hours, maybe, but not three hundred. Sitting in her cell in Gitmo had been hard enough knowing that the chance she'd ever leave was slim.
"So what now?" she muttered to herself. Things weren't always what they seemed. Surely there had to be an upside to this; some kind of benefit perhaps. In the very least, she had plenty of time to hit the gym and start getting her strength back. The medic had said no strenuous exercise, but surely lifting dumbbells didn't count. Or soldering. That was something she could do...not that there was anything to solder. "Sudoku? Watch some TV that I can't access?"
With the departure of Toretto and his team, her job was done. They had their equipment, or what she'd put together anyway. The rest of it could be completed by any machinist with half a brain. That meant they had no further use for her. No need of her presence.
Was it any wonder why she was now bedridden and stuck in her room? Whether or not Hobbs wanted to admit it, his "accident" involved awfully convenient timing.
Not that it mattered. Cipher had seemingly known for days what they were doing.
"You know, I wasn't going to say anything but I figured if I didn't, you'd probably stab me with one of these." His feet dangled over the edge of the bed, ankles crossed, and the small collection of knives she'd stashed next to the mattress was now displayed on top of it. "By the way, I saw what you did to your car. Honestly, it's not even that bad. You'll have to smooth out the dents but she runs fine."
"I'm-"
"Relax. My eyes are closed. Check for yourself."
Shit! Elizabeth snatched up her shirt from the back of the dining chair and hurriedly pulled it on before adjusting her towel to cover the lower half of her body. How the hell had he broken in? And when? She hadn't heard a single noise. "You're an arsehole."
Up close, he was slightly more attractive than she'd expected. Dark brown hair, strong jaw; though he certainly seemed to be compensating for something in the muscle department. Elizabeth wouldn't so much as touch him with a ten foot pole, but Jakob wasn't wholly unpleasant to look at.
He gave a charming schoolboy grin. "In fairness, I knocked twice, but I don't think you heard me over the dulcet tones of you singing Kukushka."
There was nothing wrong with a little Viktor Tsoi every now and again, nor some private karaoke in the confines of one's own shower. "You know," Elizabeth said, "in civilised countries, breaking into a woman's room at-" she looked at the clock on her drawer "-half past one in the morning would be considered illegal. Generally punishable by her repeatedly beating the intruder over the head with an alarm clock or lamp until he flees."
"Oh, so when you do it, it's fine, but when I do it, then it's a problem?"
Toretto had seen her break into Hobbs' room next door? Crap. If he knew about it, then Cipher might too. The last thing Beth needed was her loyalties being questioned. "In a manner of speaking? Yes."
"Gotcha. Well, I left the keys to your car on your table." Jakob sat up, planting his hands on the mattress to brace himself. He opened his eyes to catch a glimpse of bare stomach as Shaw tugged on a loose pair of pants. "Mysteriously, someone also towed it here to the parking lot, so you're welcome."
"...Thank you." There wasn't a hint of sarcasm in her voice, only genuine appreciation. Being unable to traverse outside her room, or even to the warehouse, would've driven her mad quicker than Owen could drop his 'polite English boy' facade.
"Just don't crash it again," he admonished.
"I don't intend to." Surprisingly, the injuries didn't hurt as much as she thought they would. Or rather, she'd gotten lucky by being inside an armoured car and not a piece of junk that would've crumpled like a tin can. If it'd been the Zhiguli she'd driven to the meeting, there was no question that Elizabeth would've found herself face to face with Death a lot sooner than she expected. "The pain's unpleasant, to say the least."
"It's gonna be worse in the morning." He swung his body around and stood, leaving Elizabeth's knife collection on the bed. There were better ones where he came from. Ones that didn't look like they'd been handcrafted from kitchen utensils. "Assuming you want to stay."
If she wanted to..."What?"
"Sorry, did I forget to mention there's a plane coming?" Jakob said. Before any jets could be scrambled from the nearest Air Force base, a whole lot of red tape needed to be dealt with. Then there was the ensuing shit storm as the top brass realized their top secret military installation had been compromised. All of that gave Cipher time to get in and out before anyone could lift a finger. "ETA: fifteen minutes."
Had he just handed her a Get out of Jail Free card, or could it all be some kind of trap to see where her loyalty lay? Whichever it was, elaborate scheme or otherwise, she now had an option. Two, in fact. And they both seemed considerably better than remaining in her room.
"What's the catch?"
"There isn't any."
That sounded doubtful. There was always a hitch, or a buried clause, when it came to working with her. But expectations beget expectations, and the work someone did was always paid in full. "How do I know this isn't a set-up? You could just as easily be one of Nobody's men."
"When I was eighteen, we had a huge fight," Jakob said. "Dad had just died and I lashed out. So Dom made me an offer: I could drive away and never come back, or I could go to Lompoc."
"And you drove away."
"Yep. I got thrown out by the only family I knew, so I joined the Corps and found a new one. Two tours later, I walked away and fell in with a private security company."
"From there, you discovered...what," Elizabeth said, "that you're a stereotypical Toretto who's good at stealing things and driving cars?"
"Actually, I'm exceedingly good at stealing things and driving cars, and being very very bad."
Cipher had to have fed him that line. There was no other possible way he'd be quoting herself back to her, albeit with one tiny modification of an adjective. Still, trust but verify. "That's nice, but it doesn't prove a thing."
"Cipher has a birthmark shaped like an apple on her right leg."
"Okay then." His authenticity was now one hundred percent confirmed. She'd always thought it was more like a wonky peach but generically fruit-shaped marks were exactly that. "So are we taking both cars or just yours?"
"See, the problem with HALO drops is you can't bring a car with you. We're taking yours."
Well that changed things. If Cipher was doing a rolling pickup, she'd have to maintain close to takeoff speed for a quick exit, so the F2 and Zhiguli were out of the question. That left the B2. The only car that scared the hell out of her.
"Shit. Um, you start the car and I'll finish getting dressed and grab my things." She needed underwear, a jacket, pyjamas even. Enough clothes for at least four or five days. Who knew how long she'd be onboard for? Assuming they even made it up the ramp. "That thing isn't fast enough for a fly-by though."
"What else is there?"
"Supercar. It's sitting in the warehouse. We just need to pick it up."
"Mid-engine? Rear? Six or eight cylinders? Litres?"
"I don't know," Elizabeth said. It was less about the quality of the car and more so the aesthetic. The B2 just happened to be one of the cheaper, slightly better looking supercars, that she'd seen on the market. Then in a sarcastic yet condescending tone, like a twisted Mary Poppins parody, she added, "But I hear, when you turn it on and press the accelerator, it makes a vroom vroom sound."
"You're an asshole," Jakob said, with a shit-eating grin on his face. He snatched up the keys to the SUV from the table and pocketed them. "Alright. You've got five minutes, Shaw."
Five? She couldn't bend over without feeling immense pain. How the hell was she meant to-"Fuck it," Beth muttered. There was no sense trying to overexert herself for things that could be replaced. "Just get dressed, grab your gear and go."
"Four minutes and forty-seven seconds."
If he kept counting, she was finally going to end up in prison for genuine murder, not self-defense. Surviving five minutes with him seemed impossible, let alone an hour. On the other hand, who was to say they'd spend any time together at all barring tonight? Elizabeth shoved the bathroom door shut, found her underwear and hurriedly got dressed before her body gave out.
"Hey Shaw, how certain are you the SUV isn't fast enough?"
"99%, maybe. Why?"
"She's a little ahead of schedule, so we're going to need to leave. Now."
There was also the matter of two patrol cars headed their way, for reasons unbeknownst to him. It was possible he'd tripped a silent alarm, but there was no way to know for sure.
"Alright! I'm coming."
"One percent will have to do," Jakob muttered. He walked out of the motel room, climbed into the F2 and started it up, relishing the audible growl of its engine. By the time they reached the warehouse and switched cars, they'd likely miss their window for pickup. Fortunately, this thing looked like it'd been designed to punch through fences and keep on rolling. "Look, I know this thing kicked your ass today, but is there any chance you can-"
"I heard you the first time." Elizabeth hefted a small cardboard box into the car and wedged it in the foot well. "Just needed to grab this."
"Good. Because we're about to have company."
She hauled herself up into the Marussia and shut the door, strapping herself in seconds before Jakob floored it. The SUV burst forward without headlights, the interior in complete darkness save for the dim green glow of the dash. Gravel scattered beneath the tyres as they took the corner, sliding across the road before straightening out.
"I take it that's company." Two sets of headlights came from both east and west, drawing nearer with every second. Elizabeth couldn't make out the shape of the cars, but the red lights that lined their sides gave her an idea of their size. "Toretto, take the first left! There's a park at the end of the street. You'll be able to cut through there to go south."
"If you say so."
"How long do we have?"
Another sharp turn had her almost leaning up against him. She grabbed ahold of the roof handle and held tight, bracing her other hand against his seat.
"A couple minutes," Jakob said. "Maybe less."
In that case, they definitely needed this shortcut; and unless the trees had suddenly moved, there was an eight, maybe nine foot gap between them. Just wide enough to fit the Marussia through.
"On the count of four, start turning right. There'll be one tree on your immediate left and one right ahead in the middle of the-"
The entire car jolted as it mounted the kerb, rattling them both. Visibility was slim to none with a new moon - tinted windows didn't help either - but the rare streetlight allowed them to see vague shapes. She couldn't make out the look on his face but Beth imagined his brows were pinched together in concentration, and those eyes of his fixed on what was in front of them.
"This place is a goddamn obstacle course." Past a wooden railing marking the edge of the park, Jakob drove forward, the line of trees to either side of the car going unnoticed. Four, she'd said. It was almost-"Shit!"
He wrenched the wheel to one side, forcing the tyres right. The rear bumper of the Marussia scraped against a large deciduous tree, bare of its leaves and planted exactly in the middle of the park. The car bounced over its roots, lifting and tilting as it went.
Headlights lit up the ground behind and ahead of them. One of the patrol cars forced its way into the park, another was coming straight towards them. Behind it, two more pairs of headlights were becoming visible.
"You wouldn't happen to have any magic tricks in that box of yours, would you?"
"No." Something better, in fact. She'd been hoping to test it out on Cipher's convoy, but this was as good a time as any. "How good is your throwing arm?"
"Kinda occupied."
"Elizabeth Shaw, pull over!" A voice came from somewhere behind them. "Whatever she's got on you, we can help."
"Well I'm not..." Apparently, she was. Toretto needed his hands free, and there was no one else to do it. Beth swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and reached down into the cardboard box. She lifted out a metal cylinder, no larger than the palm of her hand, and started winding down the window. "I need you to rotate this thing. Complete 180."
Headlights were coming from every which way. Other cars had joined the chase, and if she didn't do this now then they were both going to prison. Right then, Elizabeth didn't fancy finding herself in yet another cell.
"Alright. Hold onto something."
Maybe it was just the adrenaline that came with the pounding of her heart, but any and all nausea had been suppressed. Instead, there was only terror and excitement. An uneasy mix of the two that made butterflies fill her stomach as Jakob put the car into a spin. Dust flew out from beneath the tyres while they turned to face north, giving her the perfect position to aim from.
"Whatever you're doing," Toretto said, now driving in reverse, "do it quickly."
"I need to set it first!" They needed at least a ten second delay to put space between it and them. When and if the EMP went off, it'd take out everything within a hundred yards. "Just give me a-"
"Now!" In the distance, he could see red lights flicker in the sky momentarily before they were shut off. Cipher's plane was nearing, and they were going to miss their only chance at a rendezvous if Shaw didn't throw her toy out the window. "Do it, Shaw!"
Elizabeth unclipped her seatbelt and thrust the upper half of her body out through the open window. She twisted the cylinder once, priming it, then hurled it north, towards the patrol cars that were rapidly closing the distance between them.
"Floor it!"
Ten seconds became nine, then eight. Whatever happened, Elizabeth didn't want to be around when the device went off, nor when Nobody's men caught up to them.
Five.
So this was what it felt like to be her brothers. To literally have the wind in her hair, battering her face as she leaned out of a speeding vehicle. The SUV's vibrations hummed through Elizabeth's body while her hands trembled with each wave of adrenaline that flooded her veins like electricity surging through a circuit.
Three. Two.
Jakob thrust his arm across the passenger seat and grabbed the hem of Shaw's pants, securing his grip just as a bright flash of light suddenly burst forth from the road. The patrol cars that neared it suddenly flipped forward, rear tyres lifting high into the air.
Thrown by the sudden loss of everything, they careened out of control, colliding with each other in an uncontrollable heap. Although he couldn't see the wave of energy, there was no doubt it was chasing them too. Rolling forward and taking out any and all electronics in its path.
The patrol cars that hadn't stopped in time slammed into those affected by the pulse. Some smashed straight into the pile of useless vehicles, others managed to divert around them.
"Where's the exit?" He pulled her inside and hit the button to shut the window. "Shaw, we're not in the clear yet!"
"It's a straight shot south from here," Elizabeth stammered out. Her heart was racing now, beating wildly in her chest. No sprint could ever make her feel like this, she thought. Nothing could, in fact. "Then another minute east before you hit the highway."
At the speed they were going - what was it anyway? - it couldn't take more than two minutes to reach the fence line. She tugged her seatbelt back on and struggled with the clip before Jakob's hand closed on hers and he pushed it into place.
"God, you should see the look on your face," he laughed. She was wide-eyed and doe-eyed at the same time, like a girl who'd just discovered there were things outside Daddy's rules and Sunday church. "I take it you've never driven at a hundred and eighty kays before."
"I've never really driven over ninety-five, or leaned out of a moving vehicle."
"Jesus H. Christ. What do you do for fun then?"
"Abseiling. Running. One night stands. Parkour, sometimes. Or I get locked up in prison."
A straight shot was right, and the wire fence gave way immediately as the Marussia's rear end collided with it. Still in reverse, Jakob turned the Marussia around the moment they hit dirt road. Again he could see the red wing lights in the sky as Cipher's plane began its descent.
"There she is," Elizabeth murmured. Glancing over her shoulder to see it, she noticed two more patrol cars on their tail. "Oh, great. I'm pretty sure we've still got company."
A flash of light came from the sky. Seconds later, the first ATV careened wildly out of control with a large hole where the engine should've been, and took the second car with it.
"Cannon in the tail," Jakob explained. "She's flying a sweet little Chinese number now."
"Okay then..."
"You ready, Shaw?"
"What?"
"Take the wheel."
"No. No, no, no. I just crashed this thing today, okay? I am not getting behind the wheel at almost two hundred per hour."
"Tomorrow then."
"How about never?"
Jakob laughed and watched as the highly-modified Yunshuji-8 rapidly descended once the Marussia had reached the highway. Its tyres hit the asphalt, wings stretching over either side of the road, just as the ramp began to lower down.
"I guess I should say it's been a pleasure," Jakob said, "but there's plenty more where that came from. Provided you're interested in more than abseiling and one night stands."
"Yeah, I think I'm good." Her stomach lurched as the Marussia's tyres hit the lip of the ramp and the car began its ascension. "I prefer being alive to whatever the hell we just did."
They slowed upon entering the plane's belly while a barrier rose up behind the Marussia, trapping it. Moments later, the ramp lifted and thudded into place, closing off the outside world. Rapidly, the plane picked up speed again, lifting into the air inside of three minutes.
Once it climbed to cruising altitude and levelled off, Elizabeth stepped out of the Marussia. "So, which way to the bathroom? Because I-"
"Really need to pee," Cipher said, filling in the rest. She walked into the loading bay, wearing a Black Sabbath tank top and skinny jeans. "Hello, Elle."
"...Hi." She lifted her right hand and gave an awkward wave. God, it was like stepping into a Dickens novel, except instead of the ghosts of Christmas haunting her, it was Cipher. Truthfully she'd never expected to be back here, yet there she stood, sandwiched between Dom's brother and Dom's enemy.
"You can go, Jakob," Cipher added dismissively. "Elizabeth and I need to talk."
"You know where to find me," he said, stepping around them and walking through the open bay doors. "Don't let her boss you around too much, Shaw."
Once he was gone, Cipher closed the distance between them and looked Beth up and down. "You look like shit."
"It's nice to see you too."
"C'mon." Cipher slung her arm gently around Elizabeth's shoulders. "I'll make you some tea."