Not for you (FIN)

>Facts & Trivia:

When looking at the last word of this very last chapter you'll perhaps scream. Well, I wouldn't mind of you do because this indicates, of course, that writing the sequel is *worth* writing it.
But think of it: Those two have so much in common, it's not unlikely that this could be possible - theoretically, which makes it work for a story. Right?

I could base a sequel on that theoretic assumption, but I think I'll need a break of several weeks first... That is, if any of you would be interested in reading that. I'd write it anyway... the question is... should I post it here?

That having said... I loved working with this team. Just to remind you...

Dana, Dom, Vince, Leon, Brian, Roman, Michael, Sway, Memphis, Sphinx, Otto. Oh, and of course my favorite evil villain, Verone.

And, of course, you, dearest readers, here and on the board of VinXperience. I can't write here why I loved to work with you, but I really did.

For the ones of you who are really interested in the reason...

I've prepared something that I call 'A personal epilogue - the conclusion of writing this story'. It contains some information why and how I wrote it, and how much of my own personality went into it, and, of course, how your comments helped me with certain issues of... character development.

If you're interested in reading it - just tell me via email I'll email that text piece to you. Just don't complain afterwards that it was too much personal information. If you want it, got it and read it, you can comment (if you want to) on that 'personal epilogue' in emails or here (as long as you don't copy and paste entire paragraphs from it into this thread - I will know what you're talking about if you comment on it, believe me). I don't mind; I just think that this particular epilogue is way too personal to actually post it here.

And now... on to the very last installment.




It took another two weeks before Dom could get me out of the hospital. I was bored more or less out of my wits and I kept thinking about my car a lot. The others came to visit sporadically, all obviously happy that I was getting better. I became aware that Dom had spent more time at my hospital bed, just watching me, than he had actually spent together with me before.

On the day Dom picked me up he had brought the clothes that Roman once had bought for me in Miami. "Put that on, darling. You were bored enough, today I have a surprise that will keep you entertained for years, I swear."

"Huh?" I said. "Dom, I am bored, but I still don't feel like walking around much."

"You won't have to. We'll drive."

"Where?"

"See, that's part of the surprise, so I can't tell."

"Hmpf." I made and dressed myself.

He brought me to his car, which, to my surprise, was the Charger.

"Where the hell is the SUV?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not on the run any more. Free man, fully redeemed. You don't really think I would drive that thing just one minute longer, right?"

"Okay..." I said slowly and got into the car.

"There's one more thing I have to do... and that's... you need a blindfold." He said after getting in, too.

"What the hell...?"

"Don't you question this. Please."

"Okay... seems as if I don't have much of a choice, right?"

"Right." He said, pulled a scarf from his pocket and secured it over my eyes around my head.

"You okay under there?"

"I am, but I can't see anything."

"Well, that's the point of being blindfolded, right?" He laughed and drove off.

We drove for almost an hour.

"Dom..." I eventually said.

"Yes?"

"It's boring."

"I know. Just five minutes more."

"Aha..."

Then, finally, when I was almost asleep, the car came to a final halt.

"We're there." He said.

"We're where?" I asked.

"Just you wait. Don't take the blindfold off, I'll help you out."

"Dom, if that is some kind of weird welcome party, I don't really think I..."

"Oh, it's not. Just wanted to show you something; after that, we'll drive back to my sister's cafe."

"Dom, I still don't feel like..."

My door was opened, a hand took mine. "Shut up and get out."

The ground was crunching under my feet, like small stones. He lead me a few yards and turned me around a bit.

"Yes, I think that's about it. Okay..." I felt him release the knot of the blindfold.

I found myself in front of the old abandoned Victorian house that we had found - well, an eternity ago, it seemed.

Just that someone had obviously taken the task to renovate the poor thing - the haunted look was gone. The windows had glass in them again, the house was freshly painted and glowed white in the sun. The new owner obviously had even planted some flowers before the porch.

I took a deep breath and smiled at it.

"See, Dom? I told you. Just a little bit of TLC and this thing looks like new."

"Yes, I see. It's really beautiful now. Walk with me just a bit? I'd love to see what they did to the airstrip."

"Don't you think the new owner could have something against us running around on his property?" I noticed that I was more scared of running around here than I was when it was still abandoned. Or rather before I had been shot - an experience I so didn't want to repeat.

"Ah, don't think so, no." He said, took my hand and walked with me around the house.

The garden had been cared for. A large table with many chairs stood there on a well clipped lawn; small lights were hanging all around.

"Dom..." I said, stopping.

"Yes?"

"Well, if this here were my property, I'd shoot anyone who would walk around on it. I've just been shot, so... could we go back to the car, please?"

"This here is not your property. It's not for sale either and I've been here several times since our last visit. I already know the owner, so don't worry. No one will shoot you here."

"You asked if it were for sale?"

"Yes, sort of. But that owner said he and his friends put so much work into it, he wouldn't sell it even if he was offered ten millions."

"Well, I can relay to that. Look, they also renovated the hangar, new windows and all..."

"Walk with me? Maybe we can take a look into it."

"Dom, I still don't think this is such a good idea..." I said, holding my side.

"You're in pain?" He asked worried.

"Not yet, but if I keep walking that distance, I will."

"I'll carry you." He said and I knew that this kind of 'offer' was not an offer, but a command. I found myself picked up and carried along the whole distance.

"By the way, I was right. This is more than a quarter mile." He said.

"Aha...."

"Say, Dana, I have a question."

"Just go ahead and ask; I may require carrying but I can still speak."

"When you were in coma, you said that you loved me. Did you mean it?"

"I already told you I do."

"So... you mean.. we both should give it a try? No more games, no more running?" He had stopped.

"No more games, no more running. No caging either." I whispered, looking into his eyes.

He looked at me for almost a minute, then walked on but never stopped talking.

"You're serious about this?"

"I am. Had enough time to think about it, you know?"

"And what about the races?"

"Well, I hope we'll still be racing together? We are still a team, right?"

"Right. Say... one more question..."

We had arrived at the closed door of the hangar.

"Could you imagine to live with me? And the others?"

"I could, but there's still the problem that I have to go back to Germany."

"And if that problem could be solved, would you live with me?"

"As long as I can stand you... no problem. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't, though."

"You sure?"

"Still."

"Kiss me." He said.

It was a long, deep kiss, after which he just held me in his arms for some minutes.

"Dom..." I said.

"Yes, baby?"

"Shouldn't we drive back? See, I have the idea that I would like to do one or two things in my trailer with you."

"You do? Pray tell what?"

"Well, like... undressing and stuff." I grinned.

"'Undressing and stuff'? I like that. Let's just look into the hangar for a moment, then we'll go back." He chuckled.

He opened the door. What I saw there made me think once again that I had hallucinations.

The hangar had been cleaned, now it was filled with the whole team's cars, tools and parts - it looked like a garage, and a giant one at that. Even the cars of Memphis' team found place in it.

But most of all I stared at the group of people who were laughing, cheering and greeting me, lined up as if for a group photo.

They were all there; Vince, Brian, Leon, Roman even; Michael, Bilkins, Otto, Memphis, Sway and Sphinx, whose laughter about my face surprised me most.

"What... the...." I stammered.

"You're home, baby." Dom whispered into my ear.

"But... the owner...?" I said.

"Ah, believe me, the owner doesn't have anything against this."

It dawned me that I had obviously been missing his point all the time.

"Dom... who is the owner of this place?"

"Basically, you are." He laughed.

"WHAT?"

"Well, after you came into hospital, I showed this place to the others. They instantly loved it. The price was low, and as you had said that Verone's money should be put to good use, we bought it. My accounts are now no more frozen, I could add the rest of the money required for the renovation. Yours. And mine. Something no one will ever take away from us. I don't exactly mind sharing, though." He winked.

"Oh! You... you... and I was so scared that the 'owner' would shoot me!" I laughed, playfully beating him with my fists.

"See? She's learned how to show mutual respect." Sway commented dryly.

"That means... I could live here now? If I wanted to? Well, if you'd let me. And... if I could, that is, but I could spend my holidays here... I still have to go back to..." I said, almost crying.

"You don't." said Bilkins, stepping forward.

"Huh?" I said.

"Ya, well, the department thought that you should get some kind of reward. Without you we would probably still be without Verone in jail, and he's such a nice addition. You just need to apply for a green card and you'll get one, we've arranged that."

"You don't mean that?" I asked, crying and grinning at the same time.

"He does. I already did, and it worked." Grinned Michael. "Just have to go back once to set up several containers with the contents of the garage. I guess you'd like to fetch some of your belongings, too?"

"Well, and somehow we wanted to appreciate that you wrecked your car without thinking about it. You know... we could need your team for some more jobs." Bilkins said, hugging me.


Oh. He had reminded me of something... I started to cry, holding on to Dom.

"Hey, baby, what's up?" He took me in his arms, hugging me tightly.

"Ah gods, he just reminded me of my car. Does anyone have an idea where she was brought after the accident? Or was she just crushed?"

"Oh, she was much shredded just from the impact, no need to crush her." Roman said.

"Shit, I would have loved to see her once more. Loved that car so much, you know?"

"I know." Michael murmured. No one laughed any more. "Hey, now that I have the GTO, you could have my Kadett?"

"No offense, Michael, but I don't want your Kadett. No one and nothing can replace my Corsarella."

"What will you drive then?" Vince asked.

"Don't know, something new perhaps. I could never drive a used car like her, I would never put that much work into one again. She was unique. Still have the Pacer, perhaps I could put some more work into that, but..."

"We know." Sway said, coming over and patting my back.

"She's here." Dom whispered into my ear. "Would like to see her one last time before she will be crushed?"

"Crushed? You crazy? I know she's destroyed beyond repair, but can't we just... like... put her up as a statue or something? I don't want her crushed, no matter what she looks like."

"Dana, that thing was nothing more than a ball of metal when it was pulled out of the house - it took two trucks to manage that. And after they did, even the rear was badly damaged because they tore the rear bumper off when trying to get her out."

"Where is she? I want to see her one last time, please."

"You sure about this?" Roman said. "Really, really ugly after that crash... you wouldn't recognize her."

"I gathered that. But damn, that car was my friend for over fifteen years, and I have to see her! And if it's the last thing I can do for her then I'll tow her to the crushing all by myself."

"I doubt there's much left to tow, sorry." Memphis said. "And believe me, I know that. When I got Eleanor... she was in better condition, and that should mean something."

"Uhm, Memphis? Eleanor could still drive. Hers couldn't..." Otto said.

"Show me." I insisted, crossing my arms and tapping my foot.

The others looked at each other hesitating.

"Be it." Roman finally said. "She's there, at the end of the hangar." He pointed at a round, strange looking shape under a sheet.

"Why the hell did you cover her like this?" I asked while I was already walking over.

"Because our cars couldn't stand looking at a corpse." Brian said.

"How funny, Brian." I grumbled.

I stood before the white, sheet covered thing for quite a while. The outer shape reminded me of many things, but a car - my car! - was definitely none of them. I just stood there, arms crossed and stared at the sheet, shaking my head and shedding a few tears for several minutes. The others gave me that time, I saw none of them but their footsteps told me that they were not too far behind me.

"Dominic?" I whispered, and just a second later two arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind, holding my hands in his.

"Yes?" He whispered into my ear.

"Hold me when someone uncovers that thing? I'm so close to fainting."

"Sure. Brian? Michael? Take the sheet off."

Both went to the sides of the 'thing'.

"Moment..." I said. "I'm not sure if I really want to..."

"That's up to you." Michael said, taking a few steps towards the others who were still standing behind us.

"No, Michael, wait... do it. By all means, do it. I have to see her one last time."

Michael went back to the side of the car, got to his knees and picked up the sheet.

"Ready, Bri?" He said, grinning.

"Ready." Brian grinned back.

For a short moment I felt anger rising in me. Grinning? Those two were grinning over my dead car?

"Fuck you two, how dare you grin about..." I shouted, about to jump at them; but Dom's arms held me back - and in the middle of my sentence, the sheet was lifted.

I had to blink several times before I realized what I saw there, tried to take a step back, but that didn't work as Dom was standing there. A bit unwilling I shrugged his arms off, took two steps forward, extended my arm to touch the hood, but just an inch before it, I pulled the hand back.

Instead I dropped to my knees and cried, holding on to my car's front bumper.

The strange shape under the sheet had been given by two giant red plastic bows that had been attached to hood and roof of my car. It was unharmed. Absolutely unharmed. I couldn't believe my eyes. Not a single scratch. I walked around, caressing the paint with my hand and there was still not a single scratch. Everything was perfect; in fact, as I noticed, a bit too perfect. And finally I found that something was missing - something that had been there the last time I drove it.

I knelt next to the front wheel and leaned to the fender.

"What the hell have you done?" I asked, laughing and crying at the same time.

"We? Why, we've done nothing." Michael said.

"NOTHING?" I shouted. "That car here was crashed half way into a house, Michael! My estimation was that it could only be swiped away with a broom! And where the hell are the cutout designs?"

"Well, they're on the parts that had to go..." Brian said.

"WHICH parts had to go?" I asked.

"Well, to make it shorter I'll tell you what we kept. We kept and repaired the back hood, parts of the fold-down roof, the steering wheel and your seats. Oh, and the chassis number." Michael said.

"What?" I said, it was not more than a whisper.

"Time to tell her the story, hm?" Sway said, coming over and draping her arm around me.

"See, when you were still in coma we decided that you, personally, might need something more than just a house. Hell, every girl needs a good car, right?"

"Right." I said, staring at the floor.

"The chassis was no more useable. There was no way to save it, twisted and bent as it was. So Michael and Dom imported a well preserved standard Corsa from Germany and modified it the same way your original car was modified. They even had contact with the original builder of your car to get information of the exact modifications, about the reinforcement for the spider chassis to rebuild them correctly."

"Oh, and I lied to you when I said you could have the Kadett. Well, it wasn't exactly a lie, you can still have it if you want to, but its engine is now running in your Corsa, so it won't drive. Could try and fit a V8 in for you, though." Michael said.

"You... rebuild my car?" I said, looking up at Brian and Michael. "How the hell did you do that? I mean... as far as I understood, you all renovated the house and the hangar... how on earth did you find the time for this?"

"We took that time." Dom said.

"Well, it's more like he made us take the time." Brian said, pointing at Michael, who just smiled at me.

"Owed you something for the GTO." Michael shrugged.

I felt like laughing, screaming, crying and running away at the same time.

Instead, I hugged them all. Uttering endless amounts of thank-you's and you-are-all-so-crazy's until they all laughed and refused to hug me any more.

Then I felt the pain radiating from my side and held it.

"Bit too much for the first day, hmmm?" Brian said.

"Perhaps I could need some minutes of lying down." I admitted.

"I'll get you back to the house. We can still all gather this evening, but for now... I think it's better if you rest a bit." Dom said, picked me up, dropped me on the Corsa's passenger seat, got in and started the car.

"Oh, and did I say 'Thank you' to everyone?" I shouted out of the window, not really sure if I indeed had expressed my thankfulness in an adequate way.

"Yeah, enough for the next ten years to come." Vince rolled his eyes, snorting.

"You still owe me a carwash, though." Brian laughed. "Still got that string tanga!"

I laughed.

While we drove back to the house on the airstrip, Dom smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" I said.

"Well, see, you had suggested that I should get my own racetrack. See this? It's perfect. More than a quarter mile. Not a round course, but still. I have my private racetrack."

"See?" I smiled back.

We got out of the car and he carried me up the stairs, waiting for a moment before he opened the door so that we could both take a look over the land and the lake.

"It's beautiful." I said.

"Yes, it is. You were, once again, right."

"You're cool, Dom, you know that?" I said, snuggling to him. "Buying and renovating this thing. Very cool."

He laughed. "Oh, I'm not cool. Wait until you meet my brother one day, then you're going to find out the true meaning of 'cool'."

I found myself staring at him. "You have a brother? Hell, I didn't even get to know your sister so far..."

Had no idea that this kind of grin could grow wider. "Twin brother even. Changed his last name somewhen, thought. Didn't want to be associated with Toretto the racer, though, of course, he's much into engines, too."

"Oh shit, there are two of you racer-playing grown-up children in this world?"

"Sort of." He chuckled. "Just that he doesn't reduce his playing on cars."

"You're shitting me, right?" I laughed.

"Not really. And I'll really have to work on being loved more as soon as we'll meet him. By the way, when we go to Germany and fetch yours and Michael's stuff; we'll meet him there. I have some business there, too; and I so bet he'll love to participate."

"You have business in Germany?" I wondered.

"Yeah, need to teach manners to some people there." He said with a grim smile and opened the door.

"That's not about what I think it's about, right?" I said, feeling some sort of panic rise inside of me.

He just smiled and kissed me. "You know, you don't have to panic with me. With me and my brother, in fact, you'll only have to panic as soon as you're in one vehicle driven by either of us. But the one thing I can promise you is... yes, it's exactly about what you're thinking."

Uhm - Dom?" I said, suddenly no more panicking but feeling very safe and content. "Care to share your brother's name with me? And if you're twins, how can I keep you two apart?"

"Oh, that's simple." He laughed. "He's tattooed all over. Ah, you're gonna love Xander..."