23Dom felt a choking sob fight to free itself from his chest. A sign of emotion that not even the so called death of Letty had brought from him. Brian O'Conner lay, in a morbid appearance of sleep, on a metal slab in a hospital morgue.
"That's him." The whispered words behind him swung him around. Mia. Tears were trickling down her tan face; the sorrow in her eyes was insurmountable.
"Mia," Dom whispered. He had lost a brother but his sister had lost someone much closer than that. She had lost a lover, a husband, her child's father. "Mia, tell me this is a joke." More choking sobs broke from his chest and he felt himself fall to his knees. "Tell me this isn't happening. Losing Han was hard, but this, I don't know if I can go on." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mia purse her lips, eyes still shining with her tears.
"Dominique Toretto, get your ass up. You knew Brian better than most anyone and you know without a doubt that he would not want you to give up because of him. He let you go free when he should have locked you up and he would probably kill you if he found out that you were going to quit." The strength he saw in his little sister's eyes was astonishing.
"Mia…" But she didn't wait for him to continue.
"I knew the lifestyle of my husband would probably claim him in the end, just as I know it'll probably claim you as well. But I don't try to stop it anymore because I know that without it you'd be dead inside." Dom rose to his feet, hands still shaking and tears still making steady tracks down his cheeks but he turned from Brian and wrapped his arms around his sister's tiny frame.
"I'm sorry Mia but we'll do right by Brian, he'll have a huge funeral and we'll make sure he gets everything he deserves." His chest was soon wet with his sister's tears but he kept his arms around her trying to bring her a comfort that she'd never find. They'd all never be the same. Brian O'Conner was someone that would never be replaced in their lives. Though they'd move on the best they knew how to, the gap in their hearts would always be there.
AN: In loving memory of Paul Walker 9/12/73-11/30/13