Cole dragged his way into the now familiar house, it felt good to be in the company of people he could actually trust for a change. "Awhile." He admitted to Mia. Looking over your shoulder all the time meant there was little time for rest, or anything for that matter. He knew that he needed to chill out and stop letting his concern get the best of him, but that was easier said then done. Still, he had made it this far. Was it possible he was under the mobs radar? Maybe, but he couldn't convince himself of it, not even remotely.

The blonde returned Brian's embrace and gave a nod of gratitude to the sister Toretto for the water. Funny enough, Brian actually looked worse than he did. "Damn bro, a little action yourself, eh?" He gave Brian a quick look over and then took a seat at their all too popular dinner/conference table. "I've thought about it." Cole said with a quick laugh at the thought of the Caribbean. "Australia also sounds nice right about now." He mused, he had seriously considered vanishing for a bit, but then what good would it do him when he came back?

"I've been better, I've been worse." He said with a monotone. "I've sold most of my stuff, figured it was a stupid idea to be rolling in million dollar rides with money from a smoking gun." He bit his lip and looked down towards the floor for a moment. "Things all good with Jack, and you guys?" He said in an attempt to steer attention away from him.

Of course Brian noticed how much Cole was dragging his ass. Just as he noticed the look the younger man gave him. It wasn't hard to guess what exactly he was looking at him for.
"Yeah, a little action." He gave the thought a half hearted smile and took a sip of orange juice that stung his slip lip.

"Why didn't you book a ticket?" brian wondered. "With all that money in your pockets it would seem like a smart move until things blow over. I sure as hell would get out of here if I had some cash."
Brian realized that his last line was bullshit. He'd never leave his kids behind, not would he leave the woman of his dreams in LA all by herself. "Just kidding." He added with a wink at Mia.

"Sold the cars? All of them?" That almost stung a bit. Cole had the most precious, expensives cars among all the people Brian owned. Maybe not his personal picks but still great cars.
"You could have given one to me. I would have drive it..." His own piece of shit car was still sitting at the curb outside but Cole surely didn't guess it was his.

Of course Cole had to mention Jack. No wonder, after all they had dragged his bleeding brother to Coles house, where he witnessed first hand how much they loved and hated each other.
"Bad topic." Brian lowered his gaze.
"He's a live if that's what you mean." Brian almost spat the words at the table because the events of the previous day were starting to catch up to him.

"Think its time we limit action for a bit." He said with a quick chuckle, taking a large sip of his water. This was the theme of the past few months it seemed, from Tokyo back to L.A. Seemed like half the time he saw Brian these days, he looked like he just came out of the UFC.

Cole was almost a bit surprised by Brian's question. "It's hard to leave home." He answered simply. "It wouldn't work anyway, they'd just go after someone I know to get me back if they found out I left. That is, if they're truly after me." The thought of Taya's safety came to mind, regardless of their breakup, he couldn't put her in danger...or the baby that was supposedly his. Whether he was being tracked was still a pressing question, but the fact of the matter was that his plan didn't work. The night of the police bust on Dieseli only got Dieseli and a few of his close henchmen. He was chased and shot at by the men in those BMW's when he left the scene. They knew who he was and they knew what he had done, it was anything but the clean getaway he expected. "Did Jack ever tell you want happened that night I brought him over to my house when ya'll were there?" He asked suddenly, it was probably important that they knew. "He probably didn't remember anyway." He added in more of a mumble.

"Most of them, the Koenigsegg and the Ferrari's and Lambo's. House is gone too of course." He answered with the slightest hint of depression in his voice. "Not like I can't buy them again someday, just isn't smart to have stuff that flashy and rare right now. Still got an Audi R8 though along with the older cars." He mentioned in a happier tone with a quick nod outside. "I'm going to look at a big shop with a nice loft later today, I'll probably buy it and live out of there for awhile, build some badass cars, and source them out to some racers who need there big break...something I've always wanted to do anyway. Not out on the streets myself that way." He thought out loud. He figured it'd be pretty hard for the disorganized mob to track him down that way if he never left the unknown 'home.' "If you need a car let me know and I'll hand you a blank check. I'm assuming my M3 is either at the bottom of the ocean or in police impound." He shrugged with a laugh. He very much knew that Brian would sooner earn his own wheels, but he figured he might as well put the offer out.

Mentioning Jack hadn't gone over too well, so Cole left the issue alone with a simple nod for now. He couldn't help but wonder though if the younger O'Conner was in a similar situation. He had a similar plan at first after all. Cole couldn't help but be curious of him ever since that night they got to know each other under life threatening circumstances. "Hope he's safe for once."

"Think its time we limit action for a bit." She took a seat and listen to the boys back and forth, not really knowing what to think of this whole situation. Cole was right about how they had to limit their action but… “Do you really think we´ll be able to do that?” it wasn’t just Jack, it was everything, it looked like every time those three were together something came up and they had to get out of the country. Tokyo was the first place she had to go help, run and hide… Then it was the docks… More people that she loved got involved, which also brought more new enemies.

She gave Brian a look when he mention he would get out of the country if he had the money, of course it wasn’t true, he had his kids and she hoped he´d think about her too, before he decided to do that. The smile was hard to hide and she hit his arm lightly. “Very funny,”

Mia agree with Cole of how hard it was to just buy a ticket and travel and stay away from the US. “It would be very hard to do that, we are not the kind of people to just disappear and leave everything and everyone behind us,” it was nothing but the truth.

It was obvious to see how depressed Cole was because he had to sell his home and the majority of the cars, working for the mob was, dangerous of course, even though it brought lots of money, the kind of money that you´ll be able to get in a year of hard work. But, it was better that way than to call the attention of other people.

Mia turned to see Cole when he spoke about how he hoped Jack was safe. “I am sure he is,” then her gaze landed for a few seconds on Brian.

"Think its time we limit action for a bit." Brian heard his friends say.
"Wise words." He commented and sipped on his coffee. Apparently Cole was able to do something that Brian could only talk about: laying low. With jack as his brother it was a near impossible task.

In regards to the mob Brian shurgged. "I doubt they are after you. If they were you'd already be six feet under. The mob doesn't muck around. But they have much bigger fish to go after. I think Hobbs might be in serious trouble once they've sorted out who will be the new head of the organisation...and then there's us. We're just small fish but not exactly safe here."
He gave Mia a look that told her it was really a bad idea to stick around at the Fort. Only if something hasn't happened yet, didn't mean it never would.
"Who knows maybe we're good since we have family ties here."
Somehow the conversation had just taken a dark turn.
So Brian returned to his breakfast and let Mia and Cole do the talking.

Cole's idea about buying a garage to work and live in sounded great. If only he had that kind of cash. Then Cole offered him a blank cheque, just like Mia had been trying to push her money on him.
Raising his hands Brian pushed his chair back and got up.
"What the hell is it with everybody trying to give me hand outs? Do I look that needy? I can take care of my own shit, alright?" He leaned his back on the wall with a bit of a sour look. It seemed like nobody gave him credit for what he was able to actually earn by working.
"That's it, Mia. I'm getting a job again, a real one!"

She could feel Brian´s eyes on her and couldn’t dare to turn and see him.

Things had been calm but for how long? She hated to admit it but Brian was right, they weren´t safe, she wasn’t safe in her own home. This meant sooner or later she was going to have to walk out once again. Could she really keep doing that? Disappear for a while then come back? What about Brian? Could he walk away like that and leave his kids behind?

Brian didn’t seem to like Cole´s words about helping him with the money and he snapped at both of them. “Whoa. You need to calm down, Brian…It´s not-“but his voice raised one last time telling her he was going to get another job, a real job. She turned to Cole; there was no need for words for the young kid to know she was looking for his help to control Brian´s anger.

"Do you really think we'll be able to do that?"

At this snap back to reality, Cole frowned. Nope, probably not. The problem with the Toretto's, Brian, and even himself to some degree was that they were too high profile on the streets here. Damn near everyone knew who Dom was, and in return knew his sister, mostly cause everyone was trying to get with her. Then there was Brian, already know for his record as an ex-cop and his high level driving. Jack was just icing the cake really. Bottom line, they're were far from nobodys. "We can at least try to stay down." The blonde muttered with a slight shrug.

Cole was a bit surprised to hear Brian be optimistic in the mob deal for a change, though he thought there were too many variables to count anything out yet. "I hope you're right, but I'm not taking chances. Once they pick themselves back up, they may have a hit list for all we know." It was times like these Cole really wished he knew some people in the right places. He felt completely in the dark with this, and there was no predicting anything with these guys. That was the one thing he learned in his stint working for them.

Apparently, Cole had unintentionally set the O'Conner's fuse...again. Though he wasn't really caught off guard. It was pretty obvious how independent Brian was, or at least wanted to be. He was content to stay quiet and let Brian unload himself, until Mia gave him a look that asked for a little backup. "Hey man, I lived off of handouts my first year or two out on the streets, there's no shame in help if you make the most of it." He offered casually.

Brian saw the look Mia was giving Cole and he didn't really like it. Why was every one under the impression that he was a charity case.
"When I live under the bridge you can throw your damn money at me!" His eyes flashed with long harbored anger. Not against Cole or Mia but against the fact that he had lost it all thanks to Jack.
"I can take care of my own business." He gave Mia a meaningful look. "If you let me."
Mia was the one reason why he hadn't gone to the LAPD asking for a legit job yet. He was only a second class mechanic, if not third class. His only training was in law enforcement.

When Cole mentioned that he lived of hand outs the first year Brian changed his focus on him. "And you lived a little more honest then, didn't you? I don't want your dirty mob money. You know very well that I told you to keep your fingers off that whole scene in the first place but you wanted the fast cash and now you've got it and all the aftermath to deal with. Congratulations."
Why he was suddenly in such a bad mood Brian didn't know. He could tell that he was way off, especially since he was talking to two of the only people who actually gave a damn about him.
For a moment he paused and took a step back, then sighed.
'Sorry.' With that he excused himself to go outside and get some air before he could blow up even more.

All Cole could do was look towards the floor and act as neutral as he could. He was upset that Brian had taken the opportunity to blow up at the mention of help, sometimes he wondered if Brian was "all there" mentally these days. Sure, there was an enormous amount of stress on Brian's shoulders, but Cole wouldn't say he was handling it well if this was how he relieved it.

Then there was the personal stab. 'Dirty mob money'...That's pretty much exactly what his sudden wealth was. Of course, he never did and probably never will feel bad for stealing from the mob. Those power-hungry, merciless monkey's could burn in hell for all he cared. But, there was a sense that he didn't really earn anything...well, he hadn't really, Brian was right.
Still, he felt his own anger stir inside at the jab, especially the uncalled for jab. "At least I didn't let fear hold me back." He shot back rather quickly, in self defense more than anything.

As Brian excused himself on an apologetic note, Cole took a quick look over to Mia, as if to ask why the O'Conner was snappy. "Guess the road hasn't been smooth lately." He said with a subtle shrug as he pulled himself out of the chair. If he had to make a guess, Cole would say that Jack and whatever his antics have been/are were putting his brother on edge, Brian had been edgy since Jack's first run-in really, whatever it was probably was a continuation of what they had already been dealing with. Or, maybe the Mira vs. Mia thing had gone to another level.

Truth be known, it really wasn't Cole's business.

"Take care, Mia." He offered a brief smile before heading out the door and passing by Brian who was motionless on the porch. Cole didn't really have any words, so he simply made the walk to his R8 and opened the door. "Sometimes you gotta grab your demons by the horns, man." Cole finally said as he paused for a few moments before stepping into the car.

Brian had been sitting out on the porch for only two or three minutes with his eyes glued to Cole's R8. What a beautiful car. especially when it was sitting next to a piece of crap like his.
And all he had to do was to accept the offer than Mia had made to him more than once or Cole's unneccessary cash. It was that simple.

The door swung open and the lanky blonde walked past him and down the stairs with a remark. He was right. But Brian wouldn't admit it.

Yet he felt bad for Cole leaving. After all he had come to the fort for a reason, which most likely wasn't staying for a five minute coffee and being yelled at.

With a sigh he pushed himself out of the armchair feeling every single one of the bruises that jack had given him and slowly descended the stairs after Cole.
Before the racer could drive off Brian leaned his elbow against the window and motioned for him to roll it down.
"Envy can be a bitch." He simply stated indicating that he truly was envious of the money that Cole possessed and made life so much easier.
"Sorry, bro. Didn't mean to scare you off. I had a run in with Jack yesterday and am a bit...sour."
That was a lot of revelation for a minute.
"C'mon back inside, okay? I'm sure Mia would like it."

As Brian made his way out to cool off, Cole couldn´t help but shot some words at him. She stood there getting ready to follow Brian but decided to stay where she was, he needed some time alone. "Things had been a little crazy with the mother of his children and now Jack. Still, he shouldn´t have done that, I am so sorry,"

She watched how Cole stood up and told her to take care offering her a smile "You too," and then he was out. She took a seat, trying to understand Brian´s behavior. Desperation? Envy? one of those two if not the two. Every single thing around him became hard to handle that it was time for him to blow up, but with the wrong people.

The only thing for her to do was wait and see what could happen next. Either Brian would stay outside for a few more minutes or hours or he would act and ask Cole to stay and apologize too.

Cole simply opened the door as Brian walked up to the Audi. He really wasn't ready to leave either, but he figured that'd be the smarter choice than hanging around a loaded up Brian. So when Brian appeared a little more empathetic, the blonde didn't play hard to get.

"There's not much to be envious about, really." He said with a shrug as he climbed out of the car and positioned himself against the rear quarter panel. "I mean, you're right. This is far from legit." He glanced back towards the car and the back to the O'Conner.
"Things haven't really changed, eh?" He said in regards to Jack, then added a head shake. Jack was seemingly about as much of a fuck-up case as Cole was these days. "Here's the thing Brian. It's not going to do anyone any good if you walk around pissed off all the time because of your brother. I'm not sure what you gotta do with Jack, but it'd be better to keep yourself and the people important in your life happy." He nodded back towards the house in reference to Mia. He couldn't help but wonder whatever happened to Mira, he had kids with her after all. It was like she just disappeared off the Earth.
Cole shrugged off a bit realizing he was sounding like preacher. "Just saying man, take it for its worth." He added with a quick laugh.

It didn't look like Cole was so happy about his dirty possessions any more, which gave Brian a hint of satisfaction. He'd always been trying to do the right thing. A lot of times in the wrong ways but the end result was always trying to stay on the straight and narrow.
"You know I've become a cop a long time ago because it was the right thing to do...protect the innocent, defend the laws. I've realized that it's not all that black and white but see my friends rob trucks and work for the mob...a little much, you know?"
He leaned his own back against Coles Audi. "I'm thinking about going back to law enforcement...doesn't mean I'll bring you in though. Mia doesn't think it's a good idea."
'I'm not sure what you gotta do with Jack, but it'd be better to keep yourself and the people important in your life happy.'
Cole went on to talk about Jack, which immediately made him tense up.
"I don't know either. He's attracts trouble like nothing else and constantly is this close to getting killed." Brian sighed and the rolled his head to the side putting all the nice shades of blue and puprle on display that Jack had been kind enough to decorate his face with.
"I can't let him die or go to jail...it's a simple as that." A short pause followed in which Brian recalled the previous day. "He said he cared. I just wonder what that means."

He looked back at the house where Mia was rattling with the dishes. She was the one person, aside from his kids, who Brian truly cared about. The woman he loved, the woman who treated him right. The one who didn't get in trouble with the law. "She deserves some happiness and for some reason she's decided again that it would be with me." Brian couldn't help the smile that was tugging on his lips. "If it wasn't for her I'd be insane by now. She been there all the way through the crap with Mira."
He gave Cole a friendly jab.
"You're right, bro."
Then he motioned towards the Fort. "Let's go back inside...finish that coffee, tell me how you've been an all and then let's take your German piece of Engineering for a spin."

Cole quirked a brow when Brian mentioned the possibility of hunting his old job down. "You sure you wouldn't end up in a cell if you showed your face around there?" He said with his head turned towards him. "I hear ya though, gotta follow your calling." He shrugged and looked back out towards the street. Lord only knows he tried to follow his calling, little did he know this was where he'd be.
"Thing is though, he hasn't gotten killed yet, so he must know what he's doing to some degree." Cole tried to make light of Jack's lifestyle. Cole figured it had to be hard though, having a little brother that was as reckless as Jack.

"That's the spirit. Gotta keep the women in your life happy, especially the few good ones." Cole pushed himself off the car as Brian mentioned indoors. "Lets do it." He said as he made his way back to the fort. "Later I have an appointment to check out a nice garage. Might be worth the thought of having a refuge that isn't a home." He looked back to Brian as he went inside.

"You sure you wouldn't end up in a cell if you showed your face around there?" Cole's question brought up what he'd been worried about for a while. "No, I checked in with an old friend and I'm good. They have nothing on me...I mean unless I bump into the street cop who was chasing me at the docks but that's unlikely. I doubt he even got a good glance at my face. It was dark and we were running through that warehouse."
It was a risk though and Brian knew it.

The next thing Cole said about Jack's survival skills under bad conditions made sense. "I've never looked at it that way." Brian bit his lip. Cole actually had a point. Maybe Jack had some special skills that kept him alive. It really wasn't his problem any more.
"I'm not going to worry about him anymore." Even when the words left his mouth Brian knew that he'd still help him if things came down to it.

While they climbed the steps to the Fort Brian clapped Cole on the shoulder. "Sounds like a good plan. Earn some decent money and have a roof over your head, why not. It's all I want."
As they stepped inside he gave Mia a smile to let her know that Cole and him were good.
"I got the roof, just need the job now."
Together with Cole he walked back to the kitchen where the breakfast had gotten cold by now.
"Sorry, Mia." He offered her a quick kiss on her lips.

The sound of voices told her Brian wasn´t coming back to the house alone. The door opened and she saw Brian and Cole walked in, good thing they weren´t fighting, no shouting or letting out their tempers. His smile confirmed everything was fine between all of them. Good.

Sometimes she just wanted to smack Brian across the head whenever he had his moments of lashing out. But, even though he had her, she knew things weren´t alright at all, not with Jack still in trouble which also brought Mira and how he was trying so hard to be part of his twins lives. He still had a job to find, he was determined to find a better job, those were his words before walking out. Maybe things would start to get better as the days passed?

She could see how badly he wanted to go back to being a cop, she made a mental note to go over that with him later in the day. She felt bad for not supporting him for something that he loved but it wasn´t the right time...they´d have plenty of time to talk about that.

Mia nodded accepting his apology as she received his kiss.

"Then go do it man. You seem to have something in you that keeps pulling you to that stuff, so do it." Cole offered with a smile. He'd have to admit that it was a little awkward to have a cop as a friend, but that's how he met Brian, so things wouldn't really change now would they.

"Yeah, but we all know how our good we are at sticking to plans." He said with a shrug and a quick chuckle. The garage idea seemed like a failsafe plan, but that's what he thought of his other plans too...not quite the case.

He offered Mia a nod of acknowledgement and took his original seat at the table. "Actually Brian, you getting back into law enforcement might just be the answer to our situations."

OOC: Sorry for the delay

Brian didn't know what exactly Cole meant but he nodded anyway. "I'm not in yet, bro. So if you've got some problems that need to be solve urgently you'll have to talk to somebody else. Who knows what they'd take me for anyway...I might be issuing tickets from now on." Brian didn't fancy that prospect but it would still be a foot in the door.
--

For a week he'd been laying low to let things with the passports blow over. Noah had managed to escape the cops with a nurses help, that he knew from his younger years. The name however, he didn't remember. Since the woman had risked her job against her better judgement he felt he owed her and the debt wasn't small.

Therefore he had one of his contacts find out her name at the hospital: Mia Toretto To figure out where she lived was a piece of cake.
So about ten days after the fateful day he pulled up in front of a small suburban house, turned off the engine of his Motoguzzi and hung his helmet on the bike.

For a moment he wondered who all the cars could possibly belong to but then made his way up to the front porch to ring the bell.

Noah wasn't one to easily get nervous but today he was. Coming to her home could easily backfire on him, when all he wanted to do was thank her.

Instead of the brunette a beat up blonde guy opened the door just enough to give him the once over and ask. "What do you want?"
Was this Mia's brother? He only remembered so much about the guy but this man didn't look familiar at all.
Noah was on his best behavior today and cleared his throat and added in an overly friendly tone.
"Is Mia home?"
The blonde guy didn't invite him in but closed the door again and made him wait, which kind of rubbed him the wrong way.

Inside Brian cast a brief glance at the bike outside and then walked to the kitchen.
"There's a guy out there for you, Mia. Blonde hair, bike...do you know him?" he was ready to go upstairs to get Dom's gun.

Mia heard the change in Brian´s voice, slowly she approached to look out the window noticing the bike but it didn’t seem familiar at all until Brian mention the blonde hair. “Yes, I do.” Her arms rested on his arms. “No need to take out a gun and shoot him. I´ll explain later,” reading his thoughts.

She totally forgot telling Brian that little detail, it didn’t seem important at the time because nothing bad happen and she thought that day was the last day she would see Noah again but of course she was wrong and now he was here outside her house and to make matters worse Brian didn’t look happy at all.

She opened the door and step outside. “Hey Noah. What are you doing here?” he had the nerve to show up at her house, she wasn’t happy but despite how she felt about seeing one of Dom´s friends she kept her tone of voice as kind as possible and talked to him never forgetting to be polite but to show up unannounced and the fact that he had to do some digging of his own to find her address…

There were probably a lot of people that Brian didn't know but this guy looked a little dangerous to Brian. the fact that he was familiar to his girl friend made him drop the idea with the gun though.
"Holler if you need me." he told her and kissed her before going back to finish his coffee with Cole.

Of course Noah was prepared for Mia's questions and maybe anger about him showing up at her house.
"Hey." He offered her a genuine smile. "Mia."
Her expression looked a little sour so he explained right away. "I'm really sorry about coming to your home. I didn't think you still live here. I mean most of the young people from this neighborhood move away."
He looked down the road to the corner. only a few streets over was where he had lived for five years as a kid.
"I came to thank you." He stepped a little closer to hand her the clothes from the hospital.
"I don't need those any more."
Finally he was getting to the point. "Do you have a moment?" He lowered his voice so that the guy inside couldn't hear it through the open door.
"I'm not sure why but I really wanted you to know that I'm not a criminal, not in a way that you might think, I don't steal or murder people, nothing like that. I just..." He was fishing for the right words but couldn't find them.
"...help people and that's not always legal."
He looked up into her dark eyes wondering whether he'd get a kick in the teeth next or whether she'd actually have this conversation.