Not for you (FIN)

About five minutes later he was wearing his clothes, I was wearing shorts and found myself being carried to the house. No matter how much I protested, he wouldn't let me walk.

"Letty?" He shouted at the door before we were even at the porch.

"Dom, let me down! This is ridiculous, I can walk!" I grumbled.

"I daresay you walked enough for today. LETTY!"

The door was opened. I stared at Letty, she stared at me, then at my leg, then at Dom.

"How did you fuck up this time?" She asked him, arms crossed.

"I didn't fuck up-" He tried.

"Shut it, you always fuck up. Bring her in."

"Hi Letty, so nice to meet you." I smiled while I was carried along.

Looking around I found that the basement was basically a giant living room with an open kitchen. The others were all draped on countless couches and chairs, reading, watching TV, playing games. Michael jumped up when he saw me.

"What the hell have you done this time?" He asked.

"Something you could have avoided by not locking me into that damn trailer." I grumbled while I was dropped on the sofa.

"Not really. You could have avoided that by not breaking out." Vince stated.

"Ah, but then I would have missed the chance to meet Hector so early. Hi Hector!" I waved over to him.

Brian came over and said something to Dom, so quiet that only he could understand.

"Not now. Later." Dom said.

"But-" Brian tried.

"Later. Letty, call a doctor. Or tell me where the next hospital is, I'll drive her."

She laughed at him; or perhaps about him, I wasn't so sure. "You don't really want to take her to a Mexican hospital here, Dom. Look what they did to me. No, we have everything in the house we need and I know what to do in such cases." She went to the kitchen counter, pulled a large bag from one of the cabinets and put a pot with water on the stove; then came over to the sofa.

"You boys go out playing now. Girl's business in here." She ordered.

"But-" Dom said.

"Shove that 'but' into your very same, Dom. Out with you."

Damn, That woman was tough. And that whole crew - Michael included! - obeyed her.

"So, you're Dom's latest acquisition, hmmm?" She said while she tried to remove the bandage.

"I'm not, but he doesn't yet see it that way." I said, gritting my teeth for the pain to come.

"I understood you slept with him?" She said, still peeling, shaking her head over the stuck together bandage.

"So?" I watched her going over to the kitchen, taking the pot with the boiling water from the stove.

"Well, that's just funny because all the girls I know who slept with him wanted to keep him." She placed the pot on the table next to me.

"Keeping him wouldn't be the problem; but him thinking that I would become his possession is."

"Ah, so you expect him to be the nice stay-at-home husband while you're out having your fun?" Letty pulled some bandages from the bag, pulled them through the hot water and waved them over the pot to cool them; then placed a towel under my leg.

"Hah? No, not at all. I think everyone needs his or her freedom to do whatever they please. As long as both know that there's a home to return to, what's the problem? And why on earth should I want a husband?"

"Uhm, for the children?"

"Not really, neither the husband nor the children. Never. Hell, where on earth should I put a seat for the child in that small car of mine? Only has two seats."

"You don't want children?" She tested the temperature of the soaked bandage with the back of her hand and was obviously satisfied.

"Not really. Ouch, damn, Letty, that's still hot!" I tried to pull my leg away, but she was holding my ankle while squeezing the water out of the bandage over the encrusted towel around my knee which refused to come off.

"Hold still, dammit! I don't want you to ruin that couch more than absolutely necessary!"

"Well, if you plan to burn me with that water, there's no way I'm going to sit here and just watch you do it." I grumbled.

"I'm not burning you; I'm just trying to get that fucking bandage of your off. If I tear that off, we'll probably have a blood bath here and you'll scream so loud that the guys will think I'm killing you."

"You wouldn't kill me." I grinned.

"Why not?"

"Because you're not jealous, Letty, and you don't exactly look like someone who's killing for fun."

"How the hell would you know I'm not jealous?"

"Well, the way you're chiding Dom tells me. 'Don't fuck this up, don't do that...' that's not the way to treat someone you'd be in love with."

"Always treated him that way." She said and tore the bandage off.

"OUCH!!! Damn, you crazy?" I shouted, trying to punch her with my fist.

"Don't like to be analyzed, that's all." She said without any visible emotion while evading my punch, then stared at my - of course - again bleeding knee. "Damn, and you ran around with this?" She whistled through her teeth.

I took a look at my knee and instantly felt sick. The red rimmed wound was bigger than I had imagined.

"That's already infected, we have to do something against that. How well can you take pain?"

"Quite well if I'm prepared for it. Why?"

"Because of this." She said and pulled a bottle from the bag. "Tincture of iodine."

"What's that?"

"Iodine with ethanol.. I need to clean that."

"That will burn." I stated.

"Yes, much. But it will help." She pulled another bandage from the bag and drenched it with the stinking fluid. "You ready for this?"

"I'll try." I said and held on to the sofa while squeezing my eyes shut.

I have no idea if you ever had a flesh wound. Touching it is the evil, but dabbing around on it with burning antiseptics is hell - as long as you're the person with the wound, that is.

I tried hard to concentrate on my nose, something a doctor once told me to do whenever I was in pain. This usually worked, but damn, this time my nose had a knee, it seemed; and it hurt. Badly.

"Letty." I hissed. "Stop for a moment."

"Stop being a girl." She said, still dabbing.

"Letty, I swear I'll either freak or faint if you don't stop."

"Perfectly okay for me if you faint, then you'll at least hold still."

"Fuck you." I said through my teeth.

"Shit, I can't get that clean. I need to..." Before I could react in any way, she was pouring that stuff over my knee.

"RrrrrrrAAAAaaaahhhh!" I screamed, saw stars and bit down into the sofa. No fainting, though; even if I wouldn't have minded.

"See, now it's clean." She grinned.

"See, now you have a hole in your sofa." I replied dryly and spat out the piece of leather, earning me an angry stare.

Fifteen minutes later I was all clean, bandaged nicely and allowed to walk around. I went outside; the boys were sitting on a small terrace at the back of the house, enjoying the evening sun.

"Hi all." I said. "Where's Dom?"

Vince pointed to the big trees, which I already knew. Dom was standing there and argued with Brian.

"What are they doing?" I wondered.

"Nothing I would like to be a part of." Letty murmured.

"Hm?" I said.

"I've seen him arguing like that before. Five years ago. That's not good." She answered.

"You think he'd do that again, hmmm, Letty?" Vince said.

"I think he'd do that again if it would be to his advantage."

"I don't." I commented. "At least not if there would be any danger involved for any other people than himself. Besides, my dears, you seem to forget that it would be your choice to participate or not if he's got anything going on there."

Vince, Letty and Leon were staring at me.

"You have no idea..." She hissed angry.

"Oh, I think I have. No faith, people. Shouldn't you be over that? If he's got anything going on you don't like then don't be a part of it; but stop bitching around."

I saw Dom and Brian coming back.

"Letty," Dom said, "I need the fax machine. I know you took it with you from the old shop, where is it?"

"I don't want to-" She started.

"It's just a fucking fax machine, Letty. I don't even want to send, I need to receive something. Please?"

"Wow, he said please." Vince wondered.

"Oh, he says that a lot." I laughed.

Letty stared at each of us. "I'll go and get it." She finally said and walked into the house.

About half an hour later the whole old team, Hector included but Michael and me excluded, was sitting around the table and went through a giant heap of papers which had come from the fax machine after it had been hooked to the phone line.

Michael and I were standing on the terrace, watching them through the window which was closed now.

"You think that's illegal? What they're talking about in there, I mean." He said.

"I have so no idea, Michael; much less if I really want to know."

"You hungry?" He said. "I am."

"I'm so fucking hungry it's not funny any more." I admitted. "Didn't have anything since breakfast."

"I know you know a diner, and I have the keys to Dom's car...." He winked.

"Sounds like a plan to me." I opened the door to the inside for the moment, and all talking in there ceased immediately. "Michael and I are going to the diner, we're hungry. You just keep talking."

I closed the door without waiting for any reply, but I could see that Dom's brow had creased when I said it. Good, I thought; that guy needs a bit of jealousy training.

"Come, Michael, let's go." I said, wrapped my arm around his waist demonstratively and walked around the house with him.

"Why did you do that?" He said when we got into the car and shrugged my arm off.

"Just to keep his Majesty from thinking he owns me. You know I don't like that." I said.

"Ah, yes, that one I know too well." He laughed and started the engine.

The diner was almost full. Many cars and trucks were parked outside, inside almost all tables were occupied - except the one Hector and I had in the afternoon.

Michael and I sat down, ordered drinks and food and looked around.

"Who thought I would ever end up in Mexico with you?" He smiled.

"And with Toretto's car, even. By the way, where are yours and where is mine?"

"In a garage near the last race camp. Seems those guys have rented space almost everywhere to keep some of their belongings."

"Yes, Vince hinted something like this at Racewars." I said.

"What do you think they're doing there?"

"I already told you I have no idea, Michael. But I, well, sort of... trust him in his decisions." I sipped my drink.

"Ah, that's definitely something new, you trusting anyone." He laughed.

"I said 'sort of', not 'blindly', Michael. Damn, those burritos are tasty!"

"I can see that. You eat like a pack of wolves."

"Just like always." I laughed.

We ate, chatted, laughed... it was a fun evening. Then someone turned the music on and I noticed that we were both staring at the table.

"Ah damn." Michael said when he heard the first tunes of the song; Cyndi Lauper's 'True colors'.

"That's ours." I replied.

"Didn't hear that for a long time." He looked at me, touched my hand. "Dance with me?"

"Here? You crazy?"

"Close your eyes as you always do. No one here except you and me." He smiled.

"It's over, Michael." I warned.

"Oh, I know that." He chuckled. "One more dance, please, I always loved that. Besides, you said he doesn't own you. You're not allowed to dance any more?"

"Oh, I am, but I don't want you to get this wrong."

"I won't. Come on."

We danced in the small space between the tables. He had wrapped his arms around my waist, I had wrapped mine around his shoulders and my head was resting on one of them.

"Funny, if I close my eyes I am back in our garage in Germany." He whispered into my ear.

"Oh, I remember that evening." I snickered.

"Was the last time we danced." He said.

"That evening was the last time we had sex." I replied. "How long ago is that?"

"Almost seven months, three days missing."

"Oh, you keep track of that?" I wondered.

"Damn sure I do."

"You still don't get this here wrong, right?" I said and looked at him.

"I don't, but I like the memories." His hand pushed my head back to his shoulder.

"Yes, the memories are good." I said and kept dancing with him.

"You like Dom a lot, don't you?" He asked, his hand stroking over my back.

"I like him and find him almost unbearably attractive, but that utterly scared of relationships and it also doesn't change that I can't be owned."

"Ah, he'll learn that. Will take some time, though. You know, he's the kind of guy who likes to be the only god."

"Well he could be the only god, but he'll have to at least tolerate the other half-gods, that's all I'm asking for if you know what I mean." I snorted.

He laughed into my neck. "Will you ever, like, grow up? Become steady?"

"Oh fuck, I don't hope so! Letty talked to me about husbands and children. Could you picture me as a married mother? I so can't." I laughed.

"No, I can't either." He still laughed. "I like you the way you are; wild, free. That's the one thing I never wanted to change about you."

"Well thank you so much for finally agreeing with me on something after all those years, Michael."

The song ended, but he still held me in his arms. "Thanks for those years, Dana." He said, playing with my hair.

"Oh, you were most welcome." I smiled, kissed his cheek and wanted to return to the table.

A guy, probably one of the truckers from his looks, stood in my way. I tried to pass on either side of him, but he didn't let me.

"Do you mind?" I said.

"You dance with me." That wasn't a question.

"Not really." I laughed, still trying to pass him.

"Yes you do." He took a step towards me.

"No, she doesn't." Michael said from behind him; he had taken the other way around the table.

The 'trucker' took a sharp look at him, then at me, shrugged and let me pass.

"Who the hell was that?" Michael grinned as we sat down. "Friend of yours?"

"I don't have such 'friends', Michael." I said, still shaking my head.

"Uhm, oh, but you have other friends. Don't look over, they're behind you by the bar."

"Who?"

"Oh, I can see Brian, Vince, Leon and Dom."

I groaned out loud. "Not really, right?"

"Oh yes."

"And how long have they been there?" I got the idea that my dance with Michael could very well be misunderstood by not just one of them.

"I have so no idea. And guess who's coming over now, all pouting."

"Let me guess. It's Zeus."