"Dom?" The cargo plane rattled around them as Letty rolled over, grasping his shoulder and shaking him gently. "You awake?"
He groaned, eyes slowly fluttering open. Dom squinted up at her before recognition kicked in and the lost look on his face turned to familiarity. "Hey. What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Well, that depended on who you asked. Truthfully she was shitting her pants right now, but in a few months, that all might change. "I wanted to talk. In private."
"Sure. Just give me a minute."
Dom looked at her as if confused about the why, nevermind the what. Still, Letty quietly climbed out of bed, easing her way past the cots that'd been set up for the team, minus one.
Hobbs.
It was strange not having him there. The first few hours had left her head spinning as she wondered exactly what Cipher and Jakob would do to him. Whether he'd even be alive by the end. Letty had found herself praying earlier, for the first time in weeks, asking for Hobbs to come back alive.
Not just because he was one of them, but for his kid's sake. They'd met on that rooftop in New York and the connection was instant. Sam was a good kid, she thought, who didn't deserve to have her dad ripped out of her life.
"Letty," Dom said when they were finally alone, crammed inside a small storage room. "Talk to me. What is it?"
She looked away, swallowing the lump in her throat, then pulled the box from her pocket. It seemed gross to outright hand Dom something she'd peed on, so Letty opted for the next best thing.
"It was positive."
"You..."
His eyes widened. He took a step forward, coming to grasp her shoulders, looking at her like he was asking if she was serious.
Letty nodded. Every part of her wanted to vomit, yet something resembling maternal instinct screamed to find some isolated corner of the planet and hide until this thing—their child—was out of her body. Safe in her arms. "I'm pregnant."
"I don't know what to..." He wiped his hand over his face and took a breath, then Dom reached down and lifted her up, kissing her gently. "I'm gonna be a father."
"Yeah, you are, Papi," Letty said.
The smile she wore hid everything—the fear and anxiety building up inside her, the way her stomach roiled. Every worry and concern Letty had carried around since she was nineteen and they'd started taking things a little more seriously.
"Do you want to tell the others?" he asked.
"Not yet."
Would it even survive to full term? How was she even meant to do this without her mom around, or her grandmother? She didn't have a damn clue what she was meant to do, and the God's honest truth was, she was fucking terrified because of that.
It was why she'd procrastinated taking the test in the first place.
Sure, her team was here, but her family? Mia? Elena? The women she'd leaned on in the past and present? They weren't here, now, when she needed them the most.
Having Ramsey around was great, Letty thought, but she couldn't fill the hole left by Mia's absence.
Or Shaw's...
As much as Letty wanted to board Cipher's plane, find the traitorous bitch and drag her off by the hair, Elizabeth had told her to turn around. Leave. Do what she said and Letty might get an answer or two.
Too bad any kind of answer was now long since gone.
"Maybe in a day or two," Letty said. "I haven't quite…It still feels surreal, you know? But I need to call Mia first, and Elena."
Dom nodded. He was probably about to tell her they couldn't call Mia, or anyone else right now, but if that was what she wanted, they'd figure it out.
Hell, he'd move mountains for her if it came down to it.
"I'll see what Nobody can do."
* * *
"We're not having this conversation again." Cipher shook up a can of compressed air and angled it at the computer fan in her hand, blowing away what little dust remained. "The answer is 'no'."
"Revenge isn't had by clinging to morality. That's what you said. So what will it take for me to jump the queue?"
Cipher set them both down on her desk and frowned. This damn impatience of Shaw's was exactly why she'd tried to nip things in the bud yesterday. Too bad it also played right into her hands. "Ten years in the military."
"Come on!"
"You build bombs, Elle," Cipher said, slumping down on her desk chair. No matter how many times they had this discussion, the answer was always the same. "Demolitions and circuits. That's what you do, and you do it well. And yes, very rarely do you find yourself capable of killing a man, but it's never the right one."
"Oh, for God's sake. Is this about him?"
No. Given he was the only man Shaw had ever killed with her bare hands, though, it wasn't surprising her brain went straight to 'him'. "It's not about Yuri Makarov."
"Then what?"
"You were on base for two weeks."
"Toretto." Elizabeth sighed, easing herself up to a sitting position. "I didn't have a chance."
She could make excuses all she wanted, but the truth was, Elizabeth would never be ready. She'd never 'jump the queue' or find herself within any inner circles because she didn't have what it took to be ruthless.
Not anymore, at least.
"A kitchen knife to the jugular did the job last time."
"That was different," Elizabeth said.
"Because you were in bed with the target or because his wife wasn't pregnant?"
"You know why."
Cipher did, but she'd been hoping Elizabeth would say it aloud. Perhaps then she'd realize how ridiculous she sounded. How weak she'd become after years of sitting behind a desk in Moscow like an overindulged pet.
"If you keep waiting for someone to harm your family before you take action," she said, "you won't have any family left."
Elizabeth's expression turned cold as she pressed her lips together in a grim line and clenched her fists. "Don't go there."
"Yes. Let's." Shaw might've started the conversation, but she'd be the one to finish it. And perhaps this was exactly what it would take to wake her up to her new reality. "How many times does Dom or his team have to put one of your brothers in a coma before you do something about it? Or Hattie?"
"I just asked you—"
"No, Anna, you want to skip to the end of the story. You don't want to do the work required to get there."
"And what work is that?"
"Pick up a gun," Cipher said. "Learn to use it."
She stood up, scowling. A trademark look that every Shaw seemed to possess. "Now who's rehashing an old conversation? I don't need a gun to kill someone."
"Then for the same reason you froze in the cargo hold with Hobbs, you'll freeze when you find yourself facing Dom's team."
No matter the scenario, Elizabeth kept coming up against the one thing she lacked when faced with an opponent.
Skill.
It was a reasonable assumption that when someone pointed a gun at your head, they intended to shoot. Shaw's instincts seemed well attuned to that. Yet time and time again, it was her inability to fight back that rendered her vulnerable. After all, put a gun to her head—even an empty one—and fear overrode everything.
"I won't."
"Elizabeth."
"What do you want to hear? That I didn't try to kill Dom? Well, I didn't," Elizabeth said, approaching the desk and planting her hands. "There were at least twenty-seven cameras in the northeast quadrant alone. Five covered the parking lot and doors. I couldn't make a move without someone seeing something."
"That didn't stop you fourteen years ago."
"There wasn't a guillotine hanging over me then."
"There isn't one now." Cipher sighed and propped her feet up on her desk. "Two weeks. That's how long you need to heal, and that's how long I'll chase them until Mr. Nobody takes the team exactly where I want them to go."
"…What the hell are you planning?"
"The Agency has something that belongs to me. I intend to take it back. So for the next fourteen days, you will be in that armory. You will pick up a gun. And you will get it together, Elle, or God help you."
She hesitated, meeting Cipher's gaze for all of a moment before looking away. "You said you had no use for me."
"I don't. That doesn't mean I'm going to let you sit on your ass twiddling your thumbs for any longer than I have to. Take the painkillers and get to work. And tell Jakob I want to see him."
"Cipher."
"Cuba made you lazy, Elizabeth." Any shred of mercy or sympathy that might've been heard in her voice was gone now. Replaced by cold, hard truths, and brutal honesty. "But it was Moscow that made you weak."
"We haven't worked together in four years, so I'll pretend you misspoke. I am not weak."
"Then prove it."
If there was one way to get results, it was by pissing her off. An angry Shaw was a determined one—a focused one. All Cipher had to do was point her in the right direction, give her a push, and the rest would take care of itself.
Elizabeth slapped her hands down on the desk before pushing off. She left the office without a word, walking out into the common area and heading straight for the armory-slash-gym.
Where, if he hadn't finished already, the pretty boy would still be working out.
She knocked on the door twice and waited, staring at it as if willing it to open. "Toretto, you in there?"
"...Yeah. It's unlocked."
Thank God. Elizabeth slid it open and stepped inside. Jakob was on the floor doing one handed pushups, his bare chest exposed for the world to see. And what a chest it was—solid, thickly layered pectorals, with flat, hard abdominal muscle beneath it. He had the kind of body that said he wasn't interested in being ripped, but rather, being strong.
"Cipher says she wants to talk to you."
"She'll have to wait," he said, glancing up at the security camera in the corner of the room. "I'm busy. But by the look on your face, I'd say your talk didn't go as planned."
"She played me. Again."
"It's what she does." His expression softened momentarily before returning to his usual determined look as Jakob finished his last rep. He got to his knees and leaned forward, sweat beading on his forehead. "She knows pissing you off gets a reaction, so she pokes until you snap and do exactly what she wants. Anchor me?"
Elizabeth nodded. She shut the door as Jakob laid down, then stepped onto his feet, resting all her weight atop him. He let out a grunt before beginning his first sit-up.
"So what is it that she wants?" Jakob said.
"The old me." There was a haunted look in her eyes, Elizabeth noticed as she caught her reflection in the wall-mounted mirror behind Jakob. If Cipher got her way, all the progress she'd made over the last ten years would be undone. The woman she'd once been—the nightmares she'd buried—would all return. "The me who got revenge and enjoyed it."
"Would that be such a bad thing? We are talking about Dom."
"You don't know who I was back then."
Jakob gestured for her to step back once he'd finished and got to his feet, grabbing the only chair in the room that wasn't bolted down. He sat and rested his arms on the back of it. "So tell me."
"Or you tell me where to next."
He looked over his shoulder at his kevlar gear spread out on a metal bench behind them. "You're changing the subject."
"We hit turbulence last night before turning around," Elizabeth said. "And at three thirty, we landed somewhere for five minutes."
"Stop."
"That's not your usual suit either."
His gear looked the same at first glance, but Jakob would give her this much: she was perceptive. They'd turned back west after going so far over the North Atlantic for reasons he didn't care to know. Yet they'd also flown south before—as she'd said—landing for all of five minutes.
"Elizabeth." She didn't get it, did she? Throwing Cipher under the bus, betraying her, was the worst possible decision she'd made. Whatever trust the two of them once had was gone. Add the issue of Hobbs' blackmail into the mix and the hacker would be keeping Elizabeth at arm's length for the rest of her life. "You are on thin fucking ice right now."
One wrong move and Cipher would give the kill order, and then they'd all be at an impasse. If he didn't kill her, Cipher would have him taken out. If he did kill her, well, there was no coming back from that. And no matter how much Hobbs pretended to be indifferent, he wasn't, which would only lead to one of them killing the other.
"I've spent my entire life on thin ice, Jakob," she said, looking down at him. "Tell me something I don't know."
"My favorite color is blue, and you're still changing the subject."
"Purple."
A royal color for a princess. Why wasn't that surprising? "Now you're trying to distract me."
She lowered herself onto his lap, straddling him as the corner of her lips curved up in a knowing smirk. "Is it working?"
"No." That same spark he'd seen in Shaw's eyes when they were leaving the base was there now—the thrill of adrenaline, of breaking the rules. Of not giving two shits about what anyone else thought. He liked that spark. That dangerous look that said she wanted to take a trip on the wild side. "So tell me about the Elizabeth from ye olden days."
"Jakob."
"You don't get to start a conversation with me if you aren't prepared to finish it."
"Fine." She carded one hand through his thick brown hair, pushing his fringe back out of his eyes. The pads of her fingers were noticably soft against his skin, her touch gentle. "I didn't care who I had to hurt then, as long as I got what I wanted. I wasn't so moralistic or…weak."
"Would it be such a bad thing if the old you made a surprise return?" said Jakob, grasping her hand and pulling it down. If Shaw kept playing with his hair like that—running her fingers through it, teasing him—he was going to end up with a fistful of hers. Or a mouthful of something else. "She sounds like fun."
"I'm always fun."
"Then stop complaining." He laced his fingers between hers, watching for the slightest reaction. "Just give Cipher what she wants."
"What about what you want?" Shaw stared at him through half-lidded eyes, her gaze lowering briefly to his bare chest as she licked her lips. "Or what I want?"
"Well, what would the old you do when faced with a dilemma like this?"
As if in answer, she shifted her weight and pressed her lips—and everything else—against him. Shaw kissed him achingly slow at first, as if testing the waters like she thought she might drown in him. Lose herself in the undertow and be swept away by the current.
But Jakob wouldn't let that happen if he could help it. Right now, he might as well have been a heavy anchor in a maelstrom, holding her in place. Keeping her secure. Stopping both of them from absolutely destroying the other. Call it a kindness or mercy. Anything other than the realization that together, they were as volatile and explosive as pure nitroglycerin.
He groaned into her mouth, letting go of her hand to grasp her thighs. The almost violent intensity of their kiss increasing as Jakob lifted her, kicking the chair out of their way, and carried her to the bench against the wall.
"Take what I want." She hooked one leg around his waist, keeping him within arm's reach. "Worry about the consequences later."
"You told Hobbs—"
"The old me was a fickle, selfish bitch who changed her mind on a whim. If Cipher wants her back, she'll get her. But don't say I didn't warn you."
"I can handle myself, princess."
She broke away, only to peel off the black tank she wore and drop it on the floor. Her sports bra concealed most of her from his sight, save for the very top of her cleavage. "And what about me?"
"I guess we'll see," Jakob said. The door hissed open behind them, but Elizabeth didn't stop. Neither did he. "Won't we?"
Her thumb swept up the length of his breastbone, hand coming to grasp the right side of his neck. Those dangerous fingers of hers danced over his carotid, and for a moment, the knowledge that she could kill him in a heartbeat reared its head. One slash of a concealed razor blade and his blood would be painting the walls.
"Fuck," she moaned, arching against him. If Elizabeth was in pain, she didn't show it. Her ribs had to be on fire right now, but she wasn't slowing down for a second. "I'm going to enjoy this."
"I'm not."
Hobbs' voice came from somewhere behind them—in the direction of the door—and without missing a beat, Shaw said, "Well, no one invited you to the party, did they? So turn around and leave."
There was a bite to her tone, Jakob noticed. An anger. He wanted to pull her focus back to him and off the Fed, yet it seemed he didn't need to. Shaw did that all by herself, wrapping her other leg around his waist and running her fingers through his hair.
"Elizabeth."
"What part did you fail to understand, Hobbs? The leaving? It's where you walk out the door and mind your own business."
It seemed she hadn't been lying about the bitch part of the equation either.
"I don't think so. Now how about you get your hands off your boy toy and tell me where the fuck this came from?"
Luke walked up to the table, holding up a smart phone. The screen was on, revealing a single contact listed.
Hattie.
"I didn't take you for a liar, but I guess you two have that in common as well since he's been bullshitting you from day one about being Dom's brother."