I really wish that Luke was here, I'm feeling anxious and nervous. Something doesn't add up here, there's more to all of this. Shaw has always been meticulous, leaves almost nothing behind and suddenly we know where he's going. Nope, there's something missing.
"I just got word they caught one of Shaw's men at the base. It's time." Tej warned us.
"Nope, there's something wrong here. Something's not right, he wanted us to find that guy. You gotta think about it." I told everyone.
"What do you mean, Penny?" Roman asked.
"She's right, Braga said the only way you get near Shaw is if he wants you to." Brian said.
"Tej, Kay, where's that component?" Dom asked as the bulb went off.
"They're moving it to a secure location." Tej replied.
"Aw fuck." I complained.
"Shaw ain't hittin that base." my brother said.
"He's hitting the convoy." Brian and Kaylee chorused.
"This isn't gonna be easy, guys." Kaylee said.
"With Shaw and his team, there's no way to know how they're going to attack. They are all trained in so many different areas, it's impossible to know what to expect." I added.
"We have to automatically assume the worst. We know that he's not afraid to use extreme measures." Kaylee said.
"Shaw will do whatever he has to do to get that chip and we have to do everything that we can to stop him. Attacking a convoy is child's play to him." Brian said.
"So what you are all trying to say is that we have to be careful." Gisele mused.
"Exactly, we don't know what we're going up against, so we have to be very careful." I responded.
Kaylee and I kept together for a while, talking to people and watching everyone around us. We knew what was going through my brother's and Brian's and Tej's heads. They kept shooting looks our way and we weren't having it."
"We're going with you." I told them as Tej and Roman walked over to us.
"No!" All four men said.
"First of all, none of you are going to tell me what I can and can't do. My father died and none of you are taking that position." I told them.
"There's no reason to leave us out, we part of the team so we will be a part of the job. You know damn well that we can do it." Kaylee argued.
"I have no doubt in my mind that you can, but I don't want either of you to go." Dom said.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"Why the hell not?" Kay asked.
"I don't . . ." Dom started.
"We don't need any distractions and if the two of you are out there, we won't be able to concentrate." Roman said.
"You have no idea how close I am to shooting you, Pierce. I'm no one's distraction and neither is Kaylee, this is not up for debate or discussion, am I being understood? We're gonna be out there and do our part, say another word and you will be the ones who aren't going anywhere." I growled.
"Penny . . ."
"I don't see any of you arguing about Gisele going out. If you so much as decide to try to talk me out of this you'll be getting a bullet in the shoulder, Brian. I'll apologize to Mia when this is over." I told him, pulling my gun out of the shoulder holster that I had on.
"Right . . . uh, Tej . . ." he stuttered.
"Parker, so help you God if you decide to add to this argument." Kaylee warned.
"I'm gonna stop you before you even start, Roman, so don't bother. Alright, since we all agree, let's work on a plan of attack. Well, we can try anyway." I told everyone with a big smile on my face.
"She's scary." Roman said.
"You have no idea." Brian replied.
I noticed how uncomfortable Tej was before anything else. During this little argument that we had Kaylee got pretty close to Dom and that was in front of everyone, I don't really think they even notice it. I don't want to meddle but I won't let my brother or her screw this up for her, so I walked over to Tej and laid my head on his shoulder.
"You don't have anything to worry about there." I whispered.
"There's still something there, you can't say that you don't see it." he replied in the same low tone.
"Of course I do, but that's because I've been around them since this all started when we were teenagers. I can clearly see who they were when I look at them now."
"So it's not just me?"
"No, but there's a big difference now that didn't exist then."
"What is that?"
"You. As much as Dom loved Kaylee back then he did stray once or twice, and she knew. You make the difference, she knows that you love her and that she's enough. A lot of the pull between them is how opposite and alike they are. They butt heads so much, they enjoy arguing with each other because they know that the other won't back down."
"We all get that last part loud and clear." he chuckled.
"I know that it's none of my business and I shouldn't get involved but she's family and I consider you family as well. What happened between them is over, it's all in the past."
"Yeah, I don't think it's over in his head."
"My brother's an idiot, he's used to girls throwing themselves at him. She was the contradiction."
"Kaylee never did?" he asked.
"No, Letty did as soon as she left but Kaylee was never the type. I was a very embarrassed teenager who hung out with the guys all of the time, except for when I was with Kay. She was the oddball, crushed hard on him from the beginning but she didn't act like it. It drove him crazy. My brother, he doesn't end things, he just moves on to the next."
"That's not very healthy for anyone."
"No, it's not, we've lost a lot and none of us are really good at saying bye but he takes it a little beyond the norm. He knows it's over but he literally can't help himself because he never said bye so having her around is like reliving the past. She loves you though, she really does."
"I love her too, I really do but the ghost of that relationship won't leave us alone."
"As soon as this job is over that ghost will be gone, I'm already working on it. His one and true is at the end of the engine oil and grease rainbow that we're following. Everything will go back to normal, well, as normal as we know how to be."
"You get your happy ending too." he said with a smile.
"Yeah, only if this works and we get Shaw."
"We got this, Penny. Thank you."
"It's no problem, let's do this." I told him.
Walking to my car it hit me, Kaylee doesn't know how good she has it and she's unconsciously letting my brother screw this up. I can hope that she smartens up but even if she does, Dom has to leave her alone and therein lies the problem. My brother just won't give up, he doesn't know how. It's a fucked up love triangle/square they've got going on and I refuse to take sides.
"Alright everyone, ten minutes till we land." Dom shouted.
Everyone went to their car except for Dom and Tej. I know his intention was to go to try and stop her from participating but Tej beat him to the punch. He saw me watching him and walked over to me.
"You gotta leave her alone, Dominic."
"I know, I can't help it. I want to protect her."
"Well, help it. You called your ex, the girl you cheated on, to help you come to find your girlfriend, the girl you cheated with. I love you Dom, but, you need to get your shit together. You can't have your cake and eat it too."
"Everything is gonna change now."
"Not necessarily, she might not come home with us. What happens then?"
"Even if she doesn't remember us, we're bringing her home. It's where she belongs."
"We'll see, don't forget that I warned you."
"I"ll see you on the road, be careful." He told me, kissing my head.
"You too, don't do anything stupid."
"You either."
"Dominic Toretto, how dare you accuse me of doing something stupid! I'll have you know that I am a saint!" I ended up shouting because he walked away from me.
I could hear my team's laughter echoing through the cargo of the plane. It made me smile but as soon that moment was over it was time for business. Everyone got into a car except for Han and Gisele, they got onto motorcycles. When the plane landed and the cargo door opened, we all zoomed out.
I'm fighting back the panic that's trying to choke me right now. This is the most dangerous job we've done to date and so much rests on the outcome of this. We are literally hauling ass into the unknown against our worst opponent so far and I'm not altogether sure that we're gonna win.
Tej went ahead of us so that he could give us updates from the bridge, Han and Gisele went with him. Now we wait for word of their location and that's the worst part. Normally, I enjoy the adventure and the chaos, uncertainty, but this time it's got a vice-like grip around my heart and lungs that's really incapacitating. We have to do this and come out on top, I'm tired of running and hiding, I just don't know how we're gonna do it.
We have to do this, I want my life back.