Fifteen

"Oh, shit." Rae mumbled as she felt the car fall. Letty was right behind her. Regan didn't like the feeling of falling, but falling in a car just seemed worse. 

Everybody good? Everybody make it out? Brian asked over the radio.

"I'm good, Bri." Rae replied. 

Hey, Rome? Hey, what's up, man? Talk to me, come on. 

I can't do it. Roman answered. 

The hell you can't! Come on, man! You throw that thing in reverse and get your ass out here now! 

Look, I can't do it, okay? Listen to what I'm saying. 

"Come on, pussy." Rae replied. 

Now isn't the time! Bri shouted. 

I'ma stay up here with the pilot. We gonna circle around and make sure we holding it down from up here. 

You're running out of time. The chute is guided by GPS. You don't have to do anything. Letty replied. 

Tej! Dom called. 

I'm already on it. Tej replied. 

Hey, man, listen. I'm sorry to let y'all down, okay? I'ma go ahead and stay up here. Rome tried. 

No, brother, I'm sorry to let you down. Tej replied. 

What? Rome asked. Tej! What are you doing?! Roman's screaming filled the radio. I hate you, Tej!

Get ready! Ground's comin' fast. Brian told them. 

"Let's fuckin' do this!" Rae smiled. Their chutes deployed one by one, sending them closer to the ground slowly. When they were close enough, they released the chutes. Regan sped off after Brian, Letty behind her. 

Touchdown, baby. She said. 

Car check. Call it in. Dom called. 

Check. 

Check. 

"Let's go, baby." 

I'm good, let's do this. 

Ah, shit! Get me down, man. The trees! Roman called. 

Sit tight, Roman. We'll come back for you. Dom replied. 

"See what happens when you're a pussy?" Rae asked. 

This is not the plan!

Five cars, one straight line. They turned a corner, Tej falling out of line. He landed beside Regan. 

Ramsey will be in the bus. Brian said. 

Then let's do this. Letty replied. 

"That's what I've been sayin'." Rae smiled. 

They followed behind their targets. They moved the bus to the front, meaning the team had goons to get through. The jeeps in the back opened up their windows, pointing guns. 

Oh, shit! Tej exclaimed as they were shot at. Dom had gotten the most o fit, being in the front. He swerved out of the way, leaving Bri in the line of fire. 

Tej, shield! Dom called. 

I'm on the way. 

Regan and Letty glanced at each other quickly, each swerving the opposite direction. Tej made it through. 

All right, formation. Dom told them. 

They all made a t]line behind Tej. Brian, Regan, Letty and then finally Dom. 

Punch it! Dom said. He pulled forward into Letty, Letty into Rae and Rae into Brian, Brian into Tej. Tej took out the goons, leading them up to the bus. Tej and Brian were to blow out the back. Panels opened, revealing more guns. 

"Brian!" 

Get out of the way! He replied. They shot him and Tej off the road. 

Those aren't guns, those are goddamn cannons! Armor piercer rounds. Tej said. 

Both of them managed to get back on the road and back into formation. Dom and Letty went ahead, sending their hooks into the bus. 

Brian, Tej, blow it! 

They did and Dom and Letty hit their brakes, pulling the back of the bus off. Rae swerved behind Tej, letting the bus part hit the goon cars behind them. 

"Sick." Rae said, watching the cars blow up. 

Brian, Regan, you're up. 

Regan pulled herself forward, pushing the windshield off her car as her brother did the same. They stood on the hoods of their cars, sharing a quick glance. Tej pushed Brian's car forward as Letty pushed Regan. 

Little closer, Tej! Brian called. 

Rae nodded to Letty. Brian's car hit the back of the bus, sending him onto it. Regan looked down, judging the distance. "Okay." She mumbled. She back up a on her hood, putting her right foot forward to push off. She landed on Brian's hood before jumping into the bus herself. She watched Brian's car go off the side of the road, watching Brian fall to the floor. She jumped out of the way as he threw the guy out the back of the bus. 

They made their way up the bus, getting rid of anyone standing in their way. Brian pushed Rae behind him as he held up the guy he'd just knocked out. There were two more guys in front of them, shooting at the pair. Brian grabbed the gun from his human shield, shooting them out of the way. He dropped the guy, shooting Ramsey's cage open. He pulled the bag off of her head, revealing beautiful curly hair. 

"Ramsey?" Brian asked. 

"Stay away from me. Stay back!" She yelled. 

"Hey, hey." Rae got her attention. "You're okay." 

"Don't you touch me!" She yelled. 

"Bri." Regan whispered. 

"My name's Brian, this is my sister, Regan. We're gonna get you out of here, but I'm gonna need you to settle down, all right? I'm gonna cut those things off you." Brian got the zip ties off and she stood, leading toward the back of the bus. 

"Come on! Closer!" Brian called to Dom. 

"We're gonna have to jump." Brian told Ramsey. 

"I'm not jumping off here." She replied. 

"We don't have time. Come on! Get your ass up here. We gotta get outta here!" Brian grabbed her, pulling her back. 

"Kill me, I'm not jumping." 

"Look at me! Look at me! You don't jump, we're gonna die!" Brian explained. "You're jumping. One...two!" He threw her to the car. 

"Regan." Brian called. 

Rae walked over to her brother, ready to jump herself when another car made its way onto the road. Brian barely caught his sister in time, grabbing her by the waist. 

"Shit." Rae mumbled. 

One of the guys from earlier grabbed Brian by the shoulders, pulling him to the floor. 

"Regan, go!" Brian yelled, fending for himself. 

"Brian!" She yelled as her brother fought the guy off. 

Letty, stay with them. 

"Go." Brian told her again. With one last glance, she jumped. 

She jumped onto the guy's back, pulling him into wall behind her. Her back slammed against the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs, but it allowed her brother the window he needed to get his footing. The guy threw his head back into Regan, making her release her hold. He pressed a red button, setting off the guns in the side of the bus. It eliminated one car. He pointed his gun at Bri, which Brian dodged, pointing it at the driver. The bus was out of control. 

"Oh, shit." Rae screamed as it fell on its side. 

"Come on." Brian called, pulling her up when he saw where the bus was headed. 

The guy pulled them back, rushing to slam the door on what had been Ramsey's gate. 

"Too slow." He mocked. 

"Fuck." Regan mumbled. 

Brian ran for the front of the bus as it started to lean off the side. 

"Brian!" Regan screamed. 

He hit a button that opened the door, jumping out. He hung by the door as the body of the driver fell out of it. 

"Come on, Rae." He called to her. 

She slowly made her way up to the front of the bus. She stared down at him through the door. 

"Remind me to kill you if we survive." Rae muttered, slowly sitting down before sliding out the door. She held on like he did. They climbed up the front of the bus as they felt it move under them. 

"Go, go!" Brian yelled when they made it. They ran the length of the bus as it slipped under them. Letty made it, sliding her car along the edge of the cliff as the pair jumped. They both grabbed on, holding as best as they could. She stopped the car, throwing them both into the dirt. They rolled, sighing in relief. 

"You good?" She asked them. 

"Thank you." Brian asked. 

"What he said." Regan forced out. 

Brian slid into the passenger's seat, looking at Regan. 

"Shit." Brian mumbled. "Sit on my lap for now." 

"Gross." Rae replied before she did. She didn't really have a option here. 

They pulled up to Dom's car- broken and destroyed. He climbed out. 

"Looks like out demon live child worked." Tej said. 

"That's one way down a mountain." Brian smiled. 

"Better than the way we just faced." Rae replied. 

"Where's Ramsey?" Bri asked. 

Dom looked over at the car. 

"Hello Kitty's awake." Letty announced. 

"Fantastic." Rae replied. 

Brian walked over to her. "How you feeling? Did you hit your head? Feeling nauseous? Ears ringing? No?" 

She shook her head. "Where's my shoe?" 

"Oh, it flew off when you crashed." Brian answered. "if you start experiencing nay of those things, let me know, okay?" 

"I don't know whether to thank you for rescuing me or kick your ass for throwing me off a cliff." Ramsey replied. 

Letty looked over to Rae, laughing. 

"Thank us or kick our ass, huh?" Dom asked. "How 'bout you tell us where that device is?" 

"I mailed it to a friend in Abu Dhabi." She answered. 

"That was pretty easy." Brian said. "That other team would have tortured you for that information." 

"I didn't trust them." She replied. "I trust you." 

"Now, why would you trust us?" Letty asked. "You barely know us." 

"I know enough." Ramsey replied. She turned to Brian and Regan. "Ex-cop. Military, something like that. The way you two took out them guys shows training." She turned to Tej. "Tech guy. Offended by the hacker remark, naturally." She looks up at Dom. "Alpha." She turns to Letty. "Mrs. Alpha." Then she turns to Regan again. "Mrs. Alpha's best friend." Rae turned to look at Letty. Ramsey turned to Roman. "Joker." 

"Wrong." Roman replied. "Double alpha." 

"That's cute." Rae muttered. 

"Man candy. You know what I'm saying?" Rome asked. 

"Man can- really?" Regan asked Letty. 

"Man, sit your candy ass down." Tej told him. 

"The disrespect is real around here." Rome muttered, sitting down. 

"Life is binary. Zeroes and ones." Ramsey said. "Only two things keep a group like this together- fear or loyalty. And I don't see a drop of fear among you guys." 

"Very impressive. Just one thing." Tej said. "They not married." He looked over at Letty and Dom. 

"She's so off, it's crazy." Roman said. "You just gonna roll with it?" 

"Actually, she was scarily accurate, but, I'm not exactly her best friend." Rae replied. "You didn't really say anything about me." 

"I mean, you kind of are." Letty replied. 

Ramsey looked at her.  "Well, training aside, you don't seem like the type to use it. You let Brian do the dirty work unless you must. Brother-sister type, I assume. You work for U.S. government?" Ramsey asked. 

Letty laughed. 

"We got similar interests." Dom said. "Tej, call it in. We're going to the Middle East." 

Letty and Rae glanced over at each other. "Sounds dangerously close to a vacation." 

"Hey, Dom, it was pretty wild on that mountain, huh?" Rae heard Brian ask. 

"Nah, it was too close." Dom answered. "But we got the job done." 

"You know, the crazy thing is, is..." Brian started. 

"You miss the bullets." Dom finished. 

"Yeah, that's messed up, huh?" Brian asked. 

"Brian, I've seen you jump from trains, dive from planes. I've seen you drag your sister along for the ride. Hell, I saw your courage the day I met you." Dom said. 

"Right." Bri replied. 

"Wanna know the bravest thing I ever saw you do?" Dom asked. "Be a good man to Mia. Being a great father to my nephew Jack. Everyone's looking for the thrill, but what's real is family. Your family. Hold on to that, Brian." 

Rae looked over at Letty one last time before she let her eyes close.