Lala's motorbike roared as she weaved through traffic with her helmet secured on her head. She was on her way to do what Leon had hoped she wouldn't. Her gaze shifted to the side as her earbuds blared Gimme More by Britney Spears, the bass thumping in her head. Finally, she spotted the entrance to her old garage and pulled in smoothly.
At the sound of a new vehicle approaching, everyone's heads turned to see who had joined their meeting. Lala pulled her bike to a stop near a sleek black Ford Galaxie, her eyes raking the beauty of the classic car through the visor.
"And there is our tenth." Dominic Toretto spoke in a smug voice. Brian looked at him in confusion, not knowing what the hell was happening. His eyes glanced back to Mia who simply shrugged and looked just as confused as him.
Lala climbed off of her bike in a smooth motion and stepped around the side of the black car. She walked so effortlessly to the crew, so confidently. Brian almost didn't see the black strapped brace on her leg. Almost.
As she removed her helmet, Brian's heart raced with a mixture of shock and disbelief. It had been years since he had mourned her supposed death, and now here she stood, alive and well. Mia watched him closely, sensing his inner turmoil. Tej and Rome exchanged puzzled glances, unsure of how to proceed in this unexpected situation as they thought they'd lost her, too.
"Lo." Dom greeted warmly, breaking the uneasy silence that had settled over the group. "I'm glad you're here." His voice held a hint of relief, as if her presence was a long-awaited answer to a question he hadn't known he had.
Gisele, the only one privy to her secret, made her way to Lala's side. She pulled the woman into a hug with a soft smile on her face. "You changed your hair?"
"You know what they say about hair holding memories? I needed to get rid of a few." She mumbled. "Thank you." The words were simple but they both knew the weight behind them.
"Good luck." She whispers in her ear, nodding her head slightly towards Brian.
Brian remained silent, his gaze fixed on Lala as if searching for a sign that she was real. Lala, for her part, met his eyes with a soft smile tinged with sadness. Knowing Gisele was keeping her secret weighed heavily on his mind, adding layers of complexity to an already overwhelming situation.
Rome, however, rushed to pull her into a bone crushing hug. "You're all muscle now, girl."
She laughed softly, "I bet I could take you in a fight."
"You coulda beat his ass before the muscles." Tej joked and gave her a side hug, the two never being too fond of physical affection towards each other.
"Any day." She grinned and went over to where Mia, Brian and Dom stood. Mia was the first to break, tears flooding down her face before Lala even got to them.
"Lo." She threw herself into the older woman's arms, sobbing quietly at the fact she was here in her arms. She dreamt about this moment so many times but knew it would never happen again.
Lala soothed her by running her hand over the back of her hair. "I'm here." Her other hand rubbed small circles on her back, calming her down. Soon enough it worked and Mia pulled away, Lala used the sleeves of her hoodie to wipe the tears from her eyes. She noticed that Mia had her simple black jacket, one Lala had left in the Toretto's garage a long time ago, over her shoulders. At a second glance she also noticed that Mia was wearing the necklace Brian's mother gave him to give to his future lover. She was highly familiar with it because it used to be hers.
She watched as Mia took a step back next to Brian. Her hand subtly intertwined with his, offering silent support as the others clearly sensed the tension in the air. Two years had passed since he had mourned her loss, since he thought he had lost everything. Yet here she was, alive, and nobody told him.
Finally, Lala spoke gently addressing Brian. "I understand if you need time to process this, Brian. I never wanted to hurt you, but the circumstances...everything that happened...it demanded secrecy."
Brian stood still, tears were in his eyes but no words came out of his mouth. He couldn't find the right ones to speak. What do you say to your dead wife, the wife you buried, that turns out to be alive after all this time? One who you moved on from with not only her best friend but her sister.
"So what's this all about, Dom?" Han spoke up, breaking the thick tension. Lala looked over at him and gave a slight nod in gratitude.
"Yeah, man, why did you drag us halfway around the world?" Tej questioned while looking at Brian. This made him finally break out of his trance that had him locked in on Lala.
Dom stepped forward and let his eyes scan everyone in the open area. "Because we got a job."
Brian cleared his throat and led everyone over to a table. "Alright, so our target's name is Hernan Reyes and he runs the drug scene down here."
"He has yet to be busted here." Lala interjected and looked at him and Dom.
"Yeah, he's never been busted because he doesn't leave a paper trail." Brian crossed his arms and looked at the others.
"No paper trails means no banks, and no banks means cash houses." Gisele informed the crew by sharing a low-key glimpse into her knowledge. Their eyes fell onto the map on top of the table.
Brian nodded, "that's right. Ten of them to be exact, spread throughout the city." He picked up a marker and drew circles on the map.
"And we're going to hit all of them."
"All of them?" Tej questioned, sharing looks with Lala.
"All of them." Dom confirms and Lala let out an obnoxious. Her laugh echoed in Brian's mind, even it being sarcastic, it was everything he'd been needing to hear.
Dom rose a brow at her and she pointed to the map. "This is a death wise. Reyes is like a god among humans down here, guys. People worship him, they kill for him."
"That sounds crazy. You know how crazy that sounds?" Rome spewed his word vomit. "You bring us to a whole other country so we can rob the guy who runs it? I thought this was business, sounds personal to me. Is that what this is?"
Lala sighed and sat on a stool at the table. "Rome."
"No, Lo. It's good to see you alive and well but personal ain't good for business. I can't do this, homie." Rome threw his hands up and walked away in a huff.
Everyone shared looks, the rest of the crew not knowing what would bring Rome back in. But Dom definitely knew.
"So what we're talking about is 100 million dollars." Dom informed causing everyone to straighten up immediately.
Lala felt her heart beating harder in her chest at the thought of that much money. How she could get her daughter and start a whole new life. She zoned out as Rome came back and apologized for his actions. All she could think about was her next step. Her mind immediately went to the Canary Islands.
"You can't pull off 10 heists on the same mark, you just can't." Gisele speaking brought Lala back into the present world.
"As soon as we hit the first one, they're going to do everything they can to protect the rest." Lala nodded in agreement with Han.
"They're right. He'll lock it all down maybe even move it all to one place to protect it all better." She shrugged and fiddled with the top of her brace.
Dom smirked cockily, "exactly."
Lala's eyes narrowed at them before she shook her head. "I brought your help." She stood and strutted away to her bike, grabbing the duffel bag off the back.
Brian turned to Dom and raised his brows, silently berating him for the unannounced presence of Lala. "How long have you known?" He muttered lowly between the two of them.
"We'll discuss this later, with her." He nodded his head towards Lala re-approaching the crew. She tossed the bag on the table with a loud clunking sound following the action.
Gisele stepped forward with a smug smile. "How many did you bring?"
"About ten maybe fifteen? It's what I could get without raising suspicion."
"Suspicion?" Tej questioned and unzipped the bag. "God damn!"
Inside the bag were at least ten to fifteen guns, along with boxes of ammunition for the crew. Serial numbers scuffed off, silencers in the bag just in case. Along with masks and bandanas that she found in Vince's stash.
Dom grinned widely. "We have the gunpower, now we need the plan. We have a role for everybody and what they bring to the table."
"Our Chameleon is Han, you can blend in anywhere at any given moment." Brian began, nodding to Han who shrugged in appreciation.
"I see that." He snacked on the bag of chips in his hand. "What's he?" He asked as he slapped Rome's hand from reaching into the bag.
"He's our Mouth. The fast talker, bullshitter." Dom gave a teasing smirk to Rome who turned around looking offended as all hell.
"That's just wrong."
Brian rolled his eyes and continued. "Then we have our tech master, the man of the circuits. Tej."
"How comes he's a master and I'm a damn mouth?" Rome protested which went ignored except for a shove from Lala.
"Zip it." She shoved him again when he went to open his mouth. "Zip."
"Next we have our muscles, the men who can get through the walls. Leo and Santos." Dom motioned to them. "Bombs, weapons, however you do it - you get through and get it done."
"We have our weapons and utilities." Brian set a hand on the table, motioning his other to Gisele who was already making sure the guns were ready to use. "Obviously that's Gisele."
Lala leaned back against the pillar near the table, taking in everyone's positions and silently agreeing with what everyone's parts were.
"We have two precision drivers, Dom and myself." Brian continued. "We're the getaways for when shit hits the fan."
"Finally, we have our smooth operator. They are going to be our eyes and ears on the ground, running our communications. But they'll also be able to back up any position possible and throw down if needed." Dom crossed his arms, Brian's eyes followed his line of sight to her relaxed position. "Lala."
Her eyes shined with excitement, "let's get started."
shorter chapter for this one! but it's a double upload day,
chapter 18 is up now!