⋅˚₊‧ † ‧₊˚ ⋅‎ ❥‧₊˚

The air was humid and the sun had set, it was nearing midnight, but Izzy was wide awake. It was quiet in the truck as Brian drove them through the streets of L.A. She had long since switched seats with Dom and she could feel his eyes on her through the sideview mirror. She kept her focus on the scenery outside the window, dreading the conversation she knew was coming soon.

"Where do you want me to take you?" Brian asked. She turned and looked at him, his eyes meeting hers as he met her glances.

"I don't really have anywhere I can go." She replied quietly. She knew her Grandpa's home was an option, her only option, but she couldn't risk dragging him into the mess she'd made for herself.

"She's coming with me," Dom stated. He shared a look with Brian, who just nodded and quietly understood what he was trying to say without voicing his thoughts aloud.

"I really don't have to. I can call Franco and have him meet me somewhere." She suggested.

"He's meeting us later," Dom informed her. "We gotta talk first." Izzy sighed softly and nodded to herself.

"I was kinda hoping you'd forgotten about that." She mumbled, not knowing he could hear her clearly.

"I doubt he'd forget you called him 'Dad.'" Brian chuckled.

"It was a moment of weakness, probably won't happen again," Izzy commented.

"So it's true then?" Brian inquired. He noticed his brother had kept quiet but he could see his emotions playing out. His fists were clenched, his jaw locked and his eyes clouded, the man was a mess.

"What do you think?" Izzy snorted. "We're already talking about it, might as well get all your questions out now." The brunette huffed and placed her hands in her lap, her fingers twitching nervously as she waited for the interrogation.

"Where's your Mom?" Brian asked once he noticed Dom wasn't about to contribute to the conversation.

"Dead," Izzy answered simply. "Died from a car accident when I was a baby."

"Thought you said she died during childbirth?" Dom questioned, confused by her story.

"Thats the cover story," Izzy explained. "Real deal, she died months after that."

"Her name?" Izzy was quickly catching on that his questions were short and blunt, he didn't want a full explanation, just the facts.

"Valerie." She knew the name would trigger some memories in his brain without a last name and she was right. He turned around to look at her, instantly noticing the resemblance between the girl and her mother. He quirked an eyebrow and she nodded once.

"Whats the story there?" Brian asked as he snuck a glance at the father-daughter pair.

"I only know what my uncle does." Izzy began. "Basically, Dom had gotten out of prison and had a race that night, Mom was his prize. Fast forward a few months, Mom's pregnant, Dom's back with Letty, and out of guilt, she decides not to tell him. Fast forward another few months, Mom's dead and she left me with my Grandpa and uncle."

"And then what?" Dom spoke this time.

"That's all I know." She shrugged to herself. "My uncle wasn't one for sentiment so if I wanted a story about her, I had to make them up."

"So I guess I'll ask," Brian sighed with a small smile on his face, "when did you find out?"

"A few years ago. I never really cared about finding my Dad before that. I had always been told he didn't want me, then I finally got the truth but it was too late. My childhood was over, there was really no reason for me to find where and who I came from." Izzy was baring her soul for the two men in the front seat and as weird as it was, she was slightly comforted by their presence. She wasn't entirely sure she could welcome them with open arms, but after the last few days she endured, she trusted them enough with her life and it was the first time she truly felt what she was missing out on.

"We're here," Dom announced. He opened the door for her and her brown eyes took in the disastrous state of the home. While Dom spoke with Brian, she took careful steps up the concrete stairs on the sidewalk. Caution tape surrounded most of the property, but if she looked past the burnt walls and trashed roof (and the random graffiti letters) she could picture a nice house, a family home. "It's shit now." She was startled by his deep voice but she didn't react physically.

"It's still a home." She uttered quietly. She had a sudden epiphany and feeling of loss. Her childhood wasn't the best, her Grandpa did the best he could, but she could imagine the memories the shambled home before her held and she wanted that. She wanted more than just distant memories of a sandwich shop. She wanted a family.

"Come with me." He walked away and Izzy quietly trailed behind him. He opened the door to the garage and a single lightbulb illuminated the dark area. She stepped in behind him, her arms crossing over her chest as she observed the room. A random bike hung on the wall, tool chests and shelves lined up the sides, but what caught her interest was the obvious tarp-covered car. Her stare was fixated on it and Dom quickly noticed. "It was my Dad's."

"Does it drive?" She inquired. Her knowledge of cars was lacking. Something she knew would be different had she been raised by the man before her.

"When I want it to." Dom shrugged. Silence engulfed them and the girl's anxiety spiked as she awaited the conversation. "Were you gonna tell me?" She avoided making eye contact as she shook her head. "Why?"

She paled and stuttered as she stumbled over what to say. "I haven't had the best time with Toretto men." She mumbled. He was confused by her whispered words and things were starting to click in his mind as he comprehended her words, he had to be wrong. There was only one other Toretto man besides him. "After being told your whole life that your Dad didn't want you, that shit starts to go to your head and you begin to believe it." She sighed and finally met his stare. His brown eyes bore into her matching ones, now that he could see her standing in his garage, he remembered why she looked so familiar to him. She was the spitting image of her mother. "Why did you bring me here, Dom? You could've just sent me back to the base."

"I brought you here because you're my kid, Izzy. You're my family."

"Don't start making promises you won't keep. Actions speak louder than words for me. You can preach that word all day but it won't mean anything to me unless you keep your word."

"Was it someone else who rescued you today? Was it not my name you screamed?" He quirked an eyebrow as he challenged her.

"Fair point." She narrowed her eyes at him. "So what do you expect to happen after this?"

"I want to be your Dad if you'll let me." She never thought she'd ever hear those words leave his mouth but now that they had, it caused a warmth to spread through her chest. She wanted to cry, to scream yes, but she had her reservations.

"Can I think about it?" She joked, though she was serious.

"You can, but I'm still not going anywhere." He stepped closer to her and he placed one of his large hands on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly as he smiled at her. "I'm just as stubborn as you are kid. You can say no but I won't stop trying."

"That's good to know." She muttered and smiled slightly up at him.

"I gotta get some things ready for later."

"Right." She cleared her throat and awkwardly stepped away from him. "You have a phone I can use? There's someone I need to call."

"Yeah." He fished his phone out of his pocket and tossed it to her. She nodded in thanks and left the shed. She walked through the wrecked backyard and sat atop a broken table. She typed in the number she had memorized and put it to her ear, sighing softly as she waited for him to answer.

"Hey, Caleb."

"Jesus, Iz, where are you?"

"I'm at Dom's." She replied. "I just wanted you to know I'm okay."

"Almost gave me a fucking heart attack." His relieved chuckle echoed through the phone and a small smile graced her face as she listened to him ramble. "Okay, stay there, I'm coming for you."

"I don't know how much longer we'll be here." She could hear rattling coming from the garage and she wondered what was happening in there.

"I'll see you in ten minutes. Don't fucking move." He hung up and she chuckled under her breath at his urgency. She checked the time and dialed the only other number she had memorized. She waited in silence as it rang before going to voicemail.

"Hey Gramps, I'm doing my daily check-in. Just letting you know I'm still alive." She laughed. "Anyways, we're going to have a lot to talk about next time I visit. I'll call you in the morning. Love you, bye." She hung up and considered sticking the phone in her pocket but she knew she had to give it back to him. She hesitantly approached the garage and she smiled to herself as she watched Dom loading bullets into a gun. "Thanks for letting me use it." He took it without taking his eyes off what he was doing. She stepped back and made herself comfortable in the corner as she quietly observed him. It was still weird to her to have him know everything and be that calm around him. She had convinced herself it wouldn't be like this but she was wrong.

"How old are you?" He asked suddenly.

"I'm twenty." She smiled slightly at the simplistic question. "My birthday's in a couple of months."

"So Valerie's your Mom, huh?" He shook his head as he laughed to himself as if memories were replaying in his head. "Makes sense now. You have her attitude."

"What was she like?" She begged.

"She was stubborn, always ready to fight someone, but she had a big heart. Most of my crew joined us because of her. She had a thing for rescuing people." Dom smiled to himself at the distant memories. "She was a wanderer. Never liked being in one place. When she stopped coming around, she called and said she knew someone who needed her more than we did and she'd be back eventually. When she never came back, we all assumed she finally found a place to settle down." He looked up at her and he gave her a comforting smile. "Guess she was talking about you that whole time."

"I still need her." Izzy wiped her eyes, trying to prevent herself from crying.

"Every kid needs a mom." He admitted. "But you're not alone Izzy, you gotta know that."

"I do." She confessed. "My team's my family, the same way yours is."

"Well, your family just got a whole lot bigger." He smirked. He went to say more but the sound of a car speeding echoed throughout the silent neighborhood. He smirked knowingly as she smiled to herself. Her face reddened under his teasing stare and he chuckled at how flushed she was. "He'll be a separate talk."

"I'll let him know." They shared a confused look as they heard more than one car drive down the street. They exited the garage and walked down the driveway, seeing four cars parked in front of the house. They shared another look before Izzy turned at the sound of her name.

Genie smiled in relief as he spotted the girl who occupied his mind standing safely beside her father. He exited the car and didn't even bother to shut the door behind him as he rushed to her. She met him halfway and he brought her into his arms, holding her tightly. One of his hands cradled the back of her head as he nuzzled her face into his neck. "Fuck, Izzy, you're not allowed to do that shit to me again."

She giggled and breathed in his scent. They pulled apart slightly and brown eyes met blue as they both took a second to register that they were both safe -- for now at least. He rested his forehead against hers and she closed her eyes blissfully. "Can I ride with you next time?"

"You're not allowed to ride with anyone else anymore." He watched her eyes flutter open and he couldn't hold himself back anymore. He cupped her jaw with his hands and he searched her eyes for consent and when she nodded, he kissed her softly, then deeply. They pulled away smiling and Genie swore he could stare at her for the rest of his life and never get bored.

"That's cute and all but can that wait? We got evil men trying to kill us." The couple turned to laugh at Roman's discomfort. "Wait, hold up." He narrowed his eyes at them. "What's the age difference, here?"

"It's only like eight years." Izzy giggled.

"Little weird but I'll allow it." The large group collectively laughed at him as Tej went on to tease him. Izzy met Franco and Monty's smirk with a matching one of her own as they both nodded to her. She glanced at the empty space between them and her smile fell as she remembered their fallen team member. As if sensing her mood change, Genie wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his hold for comfort. "So we all gonna stand around or we gonna go?" Roman piped up.

"Do you ever stop talking?" Monty grunted out. Roman jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Why does your voice gotta be that deep? Scary ass dude with a scary ass voice." Monty glared at him and Roman stepped closer to Dom. "Right, let's go."

"Riding with me?" Izzy looked up at Genie as he spoke and he frowned when she shook her head.

"I was thinking of riding with Letty." Letty's head snapped towards her as she heard her name. "If that's okay?"

"Yeah, come on." Izzy kissed Genie's cheek and gave a fleeting smile to Dom before following Letty and Ramsey to her car.

"So you like my daughter?" Dom walked up behind Genie. The blond man tensed up as he nodded. "Break her heart and I'll murder you." Dom's piercing glare turned into a joking smirk as Genie gulped and walked to his car with Brian right behind him.

"He won't really kill me, will he?" Genie inquired as he watched Dom head back to his garage.

"What do you think?" Brian snorted.

"I think I can take him." Genie deduced.

"You probably could've before he found out you were dating the daughter he didn't know about," Brian commented as he laughed. "Now? You don't stand a chance."

"Guess it's a good thing I don't plan on breaking her heart, then."

"For your sake, I hope so." Genie frowned as Brian continued to laugh at him. "Good luck, man."

"Thanks, but I won't need it." He chuckled. It was a nice moment before they prepared to have their intense night to begin. "Ready?"

"I was born ready."

—this was kind of a filler but the next chapter will be action packed and not so domestic—