The Confused and The Reckless,

By Julia Banes.

A/N: I've just seen TFATF for the fourth time, and despite my other bunnies, this one just leapt and bit me. HARD. <grins> Like I'm complaining? I mean, a muse with a body (and attitude:)~ of a certain italian... yummy, nummy-ness! <smirk>

Here, is my sequel to the movie The Fast And The Furious.

My beta C.Roxanne assures me that this is fine. <hugs> Thanks hun, all greatness here is because of this wonderful gal!

The Confused and The Reckless
By Julia Banes

About three years after.

"Brian Earl Spilner," the flat, gravelly voice was his first clue.

The huge shadow that fell across the desk was his second.

"Dominic Torreto," was the cool reply.

Brian had guessed that he would be the Italian's first call, but he had hoped that Dom would remain behind bars longer than that. Shutting his eyes briefly, he tried not to show any emotion as he glanced up to the other man.

Dom was standing there, hands hooked into his jeans, his muscles gleaming from brief exposure to the sun. Dom looked... irritated, but wasn't letting his irritation over *something* get to him.

"When did *you* get out?" came the query.

"Today. A certain *pol-ice* officer told me that my first visit should be to you, for some strange reason, " said Dom.

"Which officer?" returned Brian swiftly.

"Bannon," was the response. There was an awkward silence.

They tried not to look at each other, but it was hard, and as their eyes met, caught, and stayed there, Brian could see a small twitch of amusement in the others' lips.

"Yeah, well. He owed me. on a case we worked together... I got him to get you to Jesse's funeral," Brian reluctantly supplied the information.

"Take me for a drive," suggested Torreto, with a tilt to his chin that said it was really an order, not a suggestion.

The drive was not an uncomfortable one; it reminded Brian of when they had taken on the couple in the Ferrari with their orange Supra.

When they pulled up to a set of traffic lights, another high-society couple pulled up beside them in the latest BMW Sports, yellow. The driver glanced over to their car, and clearly dismissed them, and Brian could feel that same anger at being dismissed building up.

Breathing to relax, Brian turned to smirk at Dom in remembrance.

Dom merely raised an eyebrow, before nodding.

"Hey... I can't do nothing, I'm a *cop*, remember?? And this sure as hell ain't no ten-second car...," came Brian's amused reply.

As a cop, his paycheck wasn't exactly wonderful, and his old Honda wasn't the fastest thing around, but it was reliable. Dom remained silent.

The traffic lights changed, both cars pulled off.

The quiet park held a set of swings, several picnic tables, and lots of grass. It was peaceful at that time in the evening. All the kids had been called inside. Brian and Dom sat in the car, sheltered by the shade of a tree.

"Ya didn'a come to his funeral," Dom stated. He didn't sound mad, but he wouldn't look at Brian, instead, he looked straight ahead, at the park.

"I did... but I stayed in the back. I figured I wasn't welcome. Mia chased after me outside the church afterwards, once she caught sight of me, and hasn't let me disappear back into the woodwork since. I know she visited you in prison, as did Letty, and Leon... You knew that it was too dangerous for Vince, right?" Brian queried.

"I'm no fool," was the quiet reply. "I knew that it was dangerous for any of them to come and see me. and risk getting caught by the cops. I know that's why you didn't visit," he said.

When he saw Brian draw in a breath to argue with him, he added, "And I ain't complaining."

"I told them, once you took off, that you had threatened me. I refused to specify what with. Basically, I had to work my ass off for six months, and then all was forgiven and forgotten. BUT, they kept a damn-close eye on me the entire time. It was difficult to stay in touch with the others, but somehow I managed. I took Vince home from the hospital, arranged all of their fake ID's for them, funds, etc. I took care of them Dom, real good care of them," Brian said softly, yet intensely.

"For *me*??" Dom exclaimed.

"Yeah, for you. For them too. Dom, I've never had a real *family* before. When Jesse died... it was like a part of me died with him, man. It was at the funeral that I realised how Jesse had felt, and how I then felt. My parents died in a car accident when I was thirteen, Dad lost control of the car. Mom died instantly, my sister, Jean, mere minutes later. I nearly did too," Brian said, pausing for a few seconds before painfully continuing.

He *had* to make Dom understand him. He *had* to.

"I was tossed to my dad's sister, who didn't give a shit what I did. Becoming an only child so suddenly, I was so screwed up -- inside and out. One of my teachers suggested becoming a cop, being the one in control, but that wasn't enough. I took lessons from an ex-racer, the best. When I was chasing down the bad-guys, no one could top my record. A few of the guys started calling me 'Top Gun of The Streets'. That messed me up bad for a while, and I was still messed up inside, when I received *the* undercover assignment," Brian finished, and was slightly surprised to feel Dom's hand, holding his, for support.

It seemed that maybe, just maybe, he was getting through to the big Italian.

"My ma left us shortly after I turned twelve. From then, it was pretty much just me and Mia, "Dom's quiet voice spoke out into the open dusk.

When it was clear that the big man wasn't going to continue, Brian shrugged.

"Mia... she's more like a sister to me now. Letty... ," another shrug with a small grin, "you know how she is. My bratty big sister, always bossin' me around. Vince and Leon, when they're around... well, they're like brothers to me," Brian paused. "I dunno if ya want to hear this, but they're my family now, too," he added.

He didn't think it was a good idea to tell Dominic about the short affair between him and Vince -- the old adage was true, about hate being the flipside of the coin to love.

"Naw... I do. It's good, that you were there for them, and they were for you, while I wasn't," Dom said.

"Say... it's getting dark. I'm starved, and I'll bet that you are too. Lemme buy you your first dinner on the outside, man...,"Brian suggested with a grin.

"Al'ight... if it's Italian, you're dead," Dom said, miming a gun at Brian's head, and 'clicking' the trigger, as Brian chuckled.

Fifteen minutes later, Dom mimed a gun again at Brian, who just laughed.

Having ordered a large Margheritta pizza, they waited for dinner to arrive in comfortable silence, as they drank their drinks. For Brian, it was a coke as he was still on duty and Dominic had a beer.

Silence settled over them. Dom was content with his beer and was comfortable, but to Brian, it was *un*comfortable. He gathered his courage and made eye contact with the other man.

"Dom... there's some things about me that you need to know now," Brian started.

His mind was screaming at him */what the hell do you think you're doing?!?!?! Are you MAD??!?!/* while his heart was nodding its' approval. Moistening his abruptly-dry lips, he paused.

"Such as?" was the calm response.

Brian sat fiddling with his napkin on the table, until Dom finally became impatient. The bigger man firmly laid his hands on Brian's, in an attempt to still them. When Dom's hands had covered his, electricity seemed to go straight through his body, and he could feel *something* bubbling up inside him, just waiting for an opportunity to get out.

His mind was screaming again */He's got you! Now he can hurt you!/* but his heart was telling him to relax, to feel the gentleness in Dom's hands, and if they stroked his bo.... NO!!!!

"What is it, Brian?" asked Dom.

Shaking his head, Brian backed off from leaning across the table, tugging his hands free.

"Nah... it's not important," Brian stammered back in reply, the big mans' eyes undoing all his resolve to tell Dom *everything*.

There was no way that Dom would understand, or return his feelings. Fear made him stop - would Dominic hurt him badly when he found out? He wouldn't use his status as a cop in this, but there were things worse than physical hurts, which they both knew all too well.

"You just said that I should know whatever it is, now that I'm out. So, just spit it out already, will ya?" Dom reasoned with him gently. Impatience hadn't worked, Dom would try to use logic against him.

Their pizza arrived as Brian was about to speak. Impatiently, Dom waved the waitress away, as she attempted to gain his attentions with her flirtations. Brian was far more important.

Brian stared at the pizza, trying to gather his thoughts, he absently noticed that the cheese was still tangy and gooey, and the steam faintly rose from it.

Coming to a decision, his gaze jumped up to meet Dom's, they stared at each other for a few seconds. He got up, grabbing his wallet and laying down some money for the pizza.

With a muttered, "It's on me -- enjoy," Brian turned to leave. Dom got up, and grabbed his hand, pulling him back to face him.

"SPILNER!" he finally growled, exasperated. "What the fuck is going on?"

Brian turned back to him so fast, he almost spun around, as he grabbed Dom's hands for balance. This brought him very close to Dom. *Very* close.

"Just this," Brian whispered, before leaning in, and pressing his lips against Dom's very lightly. His hands were pressed against Dom's chest for balance. The bigger man always seemed to leave him off-balance, shaky ground.

After a few seconds passed with no response from Dom, Brian pulled away. He was disappointed and pissed off as hell. His embarrassment at doing that in a restaurant, of all places, was secondary to his... heartache.

"Just forget it!" Brian growled back to Dom, before storming out.

A few seconds later, Dom left the pizza place. He was just in time to stop Brian, who was getting into the car. Pulling him out, Dom saw that the cop who had risked his life, his career and risked everything else for him, was now fully expecting Dom to beat him lifeless.

While Brian's eyes remained shuttered in pain, Dom's eyes flashed with new understanding.

"Ya got a death-wish, Spilner?" Dom softly growled.

"No, it's just what I am, and what I want! It's *that* simple, Domin*ic*," Brian growled right back at him.

"It's *never* that simple... and you have a death-wish, if you wanna do that again, I've been waiting too long for.. nev'r mind... 'coz next time, I'd have my reply ready and waiting for ya," Dom promised.

*...'reply ready waiting for ya.... been waiting too long... . if ya wanna do that again...'... *

Brian stared up to Dom, and for the first time in a long time, hope began to shine.

"Are you saying....," Brian asked. He *had* to be sure.

"Just shuddup," came the reply, before Dom's lips dropped onto his, meshed and melded onto his mouth. Brian pulled Dom's body up firm to his as they both leaned against Brian's car. Roughly making out. Tongues swirling in mouths.

Brian pulled back first.

"What.... what about Mia, Letty, Vince?? Won't they be expectin' you?" Brian managed to get through bruised-lips.

Dom grinned.

"Naaw. Told 'em I'd be with you and not to wait up for me," came the reply.....

~Fin.

:D Well?? Did I do good?? ;)