18011.17 am – The Meeting Point
It had taken them around two hours to get to the safe house – which wasn't really a house more like a spot on the map that was classed as safe. Team Toretto was gathered and waiting further instructions. Dom was so glad that he could see everyone was here.
Dom stood with the remaining team members in front of their cars as Courtney and her brother slept in the back of Han and Dom's car. Letty stood as close to Leon as possible without actually touching him. Hayley was gripping Vince's unbusted arm while his other arm was thrown over her shoulders carefully, bringing her into his side. Jesse and Summer were on the other side with Han in between them, stopping them from touching. Han was munching on a packet of chips avoiding the smoke that he needed and Roman was standing near the Asian, clearly interested in what was going on and for once keeping his gigantic mouth (and forehead) silent. Mia was by Brian's side watching Dom while Brian glanced to their getaway route.
And Dom stood beside Letty and Brian watching his family. This would be the last time for a long while that they would all be together like this again. He looked over to his car where Courtney was sleeping and with a sigh (but not one of regret) he came to the realisation that he now had a new family to look after; Courtney and Lachlan. It wouldn't be such a bad thing.
"What now?" Jesse asked, dropping his burnt out cigarette to the ground and rubbing his foot on it.
"Cops will be all over that within a few hours," Brian said meeting Dom's eyes. "We weren't exactly subtle,"
"We left evidence everywhere," Mia added taking Brian's hand. "They'll know it's us,"
"We split," Dom said, silencing everyone. "Everyone goes somewhere different,"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Everyone knew what to do. Keep a low profile, don't cause attention, leave everything behind. They were high targets but that didn't mean they could be careless.
"Where does everyone want to go?"
Everyone (who had a partner) turned to each other and started discussing possible options on where to go. It was a hard and serious decision that wasn't to be taken lightly; they would be in this place for at least six months, if not longer.
Hayley turned to Vince, squeezing his hand softly.
"You have always wanted to go to Rio," she suggested softly. "We could go, see if we like it." Hayley shrugged softly, "It would be a place to start."
Han already knew where he was going; Tokyo. It was a simple choice for him; it was his Mexico.
For Roman, like Han, it was an easy choice. He was going to track down Tej and have some fun his with old friend. It had been far too long since he had seen his friend. And with no girlfriend he had no worries. Jenni and Rome had broken up soon after Courtney had moved in but had this fling status – Friends With Benefits. Roman would going back to tell her that they were all still alive, have one last sex session with her, and then go and not see her again.
"Mexico sounds fun," Jesse told Summer. "We're already here, why leave? Have some fun in the sun?"
Summer smiled in agreement; she always wanted to see if the saying was true: you don't go to Mexico to drink the water. They could go further south or north, it didn't bother her.
"Where do ya wanna go?" Leon asked Letty, surprising her.
"You don't care?" she asked suspiciously.
"As long as I'm with you, why should I care?"
"We're not even dating," she pointed out.
"So? I know you'll fall for my charms sooner or later,"
She smiled as she rolled her eyes. Trust him to say something like that; worst, it was probably true.
"What about Berlin? Never been there before,"
"Sure Let, Berlin suits me,"
"Someone needs to lock up and make sure everything is settled back home,"
"That can be us and then straight onto Berlin,"
Letty couldn't help but smile at Leon. This man was truly amazing and it seemed like her really wanted to her to be his.
Mia moved closer to Dom causing Brian to move with her; they formed an almost triangle.
"Where are you going?" Mia asked softly; though it was hard to hear over the talk of everyone else.
"You and Brian need to find some place," Dom said; he almost sounded tired but his eyes were bright.
"You kidding mate? You're not getting rid of us that easy," Brian declared. "We're brother in laws; where you go, we go."
Dom hid his smile; it warmed his heart that Mia and Brian wanted to stay with him. The Team were his family but Mia was his sister and he didn't want to leave her.
"Dom?"
Dom spun around and moved quickly to where Courtney was getting out of his car. She gently moved Lachlan so he was laying lengthwise on the backseat. She climbed out and hugged Dom tightly as he reached her. Courtney inhaled his familiar scent and exhaled grateful that she wasn't dreaming.
"Where are we?"
"Meeting point and we're deciding where to head,"
"Are we separating?"
"The Team is; Mia and Brian will come with us but everyone else will go across the globe,"
Courtney felt a lump of disappointment wedge itself at the bottom of her stomach as well as regret. This was all her fault. If she had never met the Team then they would still be racing in LA and not running from this type of law; the law that could get them thrown in jail with the key missing.
"I'm sorry; I'm breaking up your family,"
"No sweetheart, we're just going on holidays for a little while. We'll meet up again and we're still a family,"
When Dom put it that they were just taking different vacations then it didn't seem so bad. Of course it wasn't the total truth but it made her feel better and that it wasn't her fault.
Dom lead her over to where everyone was standing, watching her. She gave them a firm smile hoping that it looked good rather then how she felt. It wasn't very good because Hayley was hugging her within seconds of Courtney standing with them.
"Are you okay?"
Courtney nodded, wrapping her own arms around Hayley.
"You had us so scarred. We were all worried that we wouldn't see you again,"
"Are you okay?" Courtney asked, suddenly worried about Hayley's health.
Hayley laughed as she released Courtney.
"You sound just like Vincent,"
Courtney smiled and met Vince's eyes. He nodded to her and she knew that everything would be okay now. Everyone would be safe again.
"Where is everyone going?" Courtney asked, as Dom wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in flush against him.
"We'll head to Rio," Hayley said.
"Stayin' here," Jesse declared.
"Tokyo."
"Miami for me!"
"We'll start in Berlin,"
Courtney smiled and looked at Dom.
"And us?"
"I was thinking Andorra,"
"Where?" Courtney asked; she had no clue where that was and was pretty sure he had just made that country.
With Leroy no longer a threat and Scott no longer chasing her, she could go wherever she wanted but it had to be an actual country. Dom grinned at her but noticed both Mia and Brian had questioning looks.
"It's a small country between France and Spain. No extradition and you can literally border hop into Spain or France whenever you want. Doesn't hurt that France also has limited extradition,"
"You want to go to Europe?" Courtney asked, excitement boiling in her.
"Yeah," he replied smiling. "Let's go to Europe."
Mia and Brian nodded in agreement. It sounded like everyone had a place to go.
"So we just leave now?"
That one question started the goodbyes. Everyone must have said goodbye five time each and checked each other contact details twice.
"I guess we never got much time together," Letty said moving over to her.
"You could always come visit,"
"C, of course I'll do that,"
Letty hugged her fiercely.
"Don't get into any trouble," Courtney told her, "Okay? I need you in one piece."
"You keep him out of trouble," Letty countered.
Courtney laughed.
"You know that's about as hard as catching wild ponies,"
Letty laughed at her expression and nodded. Leon took Letty's hand and kissed Courtney's cheek.
"Take care baby girl,"
Courtney, Dom, Mia and Brian stood in a line watching Vince drive away with Hayley, Letty leave with Leon, Roman give Han a lift, and Jesse speed off with Summer. It was very silent as soon as the cars were out of sight.
"To Andorra?" Mia asked.
"How do we get there?" Courtney asked.
"We drive till we hit the water then decide whether to fly or go by boat," Dom answered. "You right to follow me?"
Brian nodded. Mia hugged Dom and with Brian they walked over to their car. Dom helped Courtney into the front seat and he got into the driver's seat. Courtney turned into her seat and smiled to herself as she saw that Lachlan was still asleep.
The one good thing about this whole thing was Lachie was too young to remember any of this and in a few years she could tell him what happened. Now though, came the hard part – getting Lachlan a new name and getting him to call her Courtney.
"What do you want to tell your brother?" Dom asked as they started moving.
"He's too young for the truth,"
"How about he calls you ma from now on?" Dom suggested. "You did practically raise him and if anyone is looking for you two, they'll be looking for a brother sister relationship not a mother son one,"
"Will anyone be looking for us?" she voiced her insecurity.
"Brian set up those explosives and they blew up the whole place. I doubt if anyone is even alive,"
She smiled even though it was terrible news that those people's blood were on their hands.
"He'll need a new name," she said instead.
"He could pick,"
"Well then I hope he picks Christopher because that's what I really wanted to name him when he was born,"
"Christopher Toretto, doesn't sound too bad,"
"Toretto? What are you saying?"
Dom changed the gear, almost avoiding her question.
"When we're settled, we could always get married. Have the Team come and celebrate,"
"You want me to marry you and you want Lachlan to be your son?"
"Yes."
She inhaled slightly.
"You'll have to propose again," she declared. "And I want a proper one; the romantic settling and down on one knee and everything,"
Dom chuckled. Of course his would be wife would want a proper proposal.
"Okay, it'll give me time to get you ring,"
She smiled.
"Yeah, once you give me a ring you'll get an answer,"
Dom and Courtney both knew what her answer was already but it was okay to play along. Lachlan sighed in his sleep causing Courtney to turn back in her seat to see him.
"So this is it," Courtney said softly.
"And it's only gonna get better,"
Courtney looked back at Dom.
"Ride or die," she whispered.
"Ride or die."
It didn't really fit with their setting but for Dom it was everything he needed to say and hear. This was their forever and now no one would or could take it away from them.
Courtney smiled and looked out ahead of them. This had all started by her wanting to find home and now she had. She had found home and someone that she loved with her entire heart and he loved her. She had Lachlan, I mean Christopher, and she didn't need to worry anymore.
Dom took her hand from her lap and kissed the back of it. It brought a smile to both their faces.
"This is freedom."
She couldn't have said any better…
Finding Home
Arturo Braga stood surveying the damage done. The complex was just a hole in the ground now with bodies lying everywhere – including Leroy, Scott and Carol. But Braga wasn't worried, he wasn't even concerned. In his hand, he had everything he could ever need.
Hernan Reyes stood beside him. Like Braga he could care less about anything that had befell Leroy. They didn't need him anymore.
"You stick to your cities gentlemen, and I'll stick to mine,"
"With pleasure,"
Both men turned from the scene, followed by their closest men.
"Oh and if you find the girl, finders keepers,"
Braga smirked.
"Finders keepers…"
Finding Home
Author's Note: So this is the final chapter of Finding Home and I am so happy with it. This has been a long journey and I thank everyone who has supported me by reading, reviewing, favouriting and following. It means so much to me to know that people actually like reading my work and I can never thank everyone who has been there for me.
I would like to thank two people in particular though. These people have been with me in every page, thought, word. They have given me encouragement when I needed it, reminding that I need to update, and their support. It means everything to me that you were there for me.
First of Scoop-GTI. You have been the best help a girl could ask for. You supplied me with the needed information to create this story and continue help me with my other story: Learning to Love Again. You are a great friend and the best person I have met on . Thank you.
And second of, my sister Dr. Bubbles. You were there when I first had this idea and though you have read and reread the different changes of this story, you didn't get sick of me. You have been a great support.
Once again, I want to thank everyone who has read this story from the first upload, or came in on the tenth chapter, or who has just found this story. You are the best readers and I love you all.
Till next time, xoxo Miss Hood