Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"You just earned yourself a dance with the devil, boy."
~Luke Hobbs
_______________________________________

Chapter 21

Sam

"Does everyone know the plan?" My dad asked, looking at each and every single one of us in the eye. "All right, then it's settled. Kids, you corral Ember. The adults will handle Lynch. Let's go!"

Our group dispersed. Bucky, Sam, Steve, Jackson, Jace, Brandon, Braeden, and I went to the warehouse where we chose our cars. Braeden, Wilson, and I were riding along with Brandon, Steve, and Jackson respectively. We were to manage communications between ourselves and the adults while tracking Ember's moves and predicting where she was going to go. I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen because the adults seemed to be on edge, particularly Mia, Dom, and Hobbs. The others seemed nervous but not to the degree that those three did. I pointed this out to Brandon who agreed, remarking he'd noticed the same thing.

"Think they know something we don't?" He asked.

"Probably. They always seem to know something that we don't. I just hope it's not anything that we need to worry about," I said. "I have to go get in the car with Jackson and keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't double-cross us. That's the only reason my dad is letting me ride with him."

"You think he will?"

"No, but you can never be too cautious."

"You be careful.""

"You too. This is the big leagues and Ember has gotten a lot more experience than the rest of you and will figure out what we're trying to do."

"Ride or die," he said.

"Let's try to avoid the latter one," I chuckled lightly. I got in the car that Jackson had chosen- a blue Porsche 911 Turbo. I saw Bucky choose an orange Lamborghini. Steve went for a white Corvette. Brandon chose a silver Audi R8. Jace chose red a Ferrari.

"We look like a messed up rainbow," Brandon noted. I heard Jace snort through my ear piece.

"Everyone ready?" Dom asked. We all replied that we were. We followed Dom and Hobbs out onto the streets, flooring the cars. Jackson kept quiet during the entirety of the ride, allowing me to work in peace in getting satellite up on my computer. It was only when we were nearing Istanbul that I decided to break the silence.

"You nervous?" I queried, trying to sound as casual as I could despite the adrenaline that was slowly building up in my body.

"Yeah," he admitted. "You?"

"Extremely. I'm worried what Lynch will do once we have her back, if we get her back."

"We'll get her back. I know we will."

"You're not getting a bad feeling about this?"

"You mean because the adults are hiding something from us? No. If they're not telling us something, it must be for good reason."

"You trust them a lot for someone who's just met them a little while ago."

"You don't seem to trust them enough for someone who's known them your whole life."

"I've learned with this family not everything is always as it seems. I mean Brian used to be a cop and infiltrated the Torettos and ultimately, although unintentionally, led to Dom being imprisoned. Dom briefly worked for the wrong side. We have a lot of weird things that happen in this family."

"So I've noticed," Jackson stated with a slight smile. "I'm glad that I've become a part of it though. I know none of you fully trust me, and I'm pretty sure Jace and Brandon have seriously considered murdering me at one point, but I feel like I fit in with all of you, that my values line up. My morals have been skewed because of how I grew up with Lynch but I have a conscience and everything I've done has been weighing heavily on me. I get to make up for that now. Starting with saving Ember from Lynch. You ready? The game's about to start."

I glanced up from my computer to see Ember and Lynch leading Balthazar, Kaiser, Nikita and Sloane. They were coming straight for us with no intentions of stopping. Ember was in a sharp black Ferrari. My heart started racing because I had a sudden realization about how good my friend was at driving. She'd only been with Lynch a couple weeks and he already had her driving up front, leading the charge. That had once been Jackson's spot.

"Ember, can you hear us?" Jace's voice came over the mic.

"How are you-" she began.

"It's good to hear your voice, sis," Brandon said.

"What are you guys doing? I told you to stop."

"I know you did. But you're family. And we're not stopping until you're back with us."

"You know I can't," she said.

"Then we'll force you to. We're not leaving without you."

"Where are the adults?"

"Right here," Dom said over the mic. "We're here to take care of Lynch."

"Dom, you know I can't go back with you. They'll kill you all."

"Let us deal with them."

Ember sighed. "Lynch, I can handle the kids. You guys get out of here with that chip. And if you don't trust me, have Sloane and Nikita come with me."

"No, Nikita stays with me. She needs to get these clowns off our channel. Kaiser, go with Ember and Sloane and take out anyone who follows you," Lynch ordered.

"I'll still shoot you if you kill them," Ember growled. "You two better keep up."

"That a threat?" Kaiser countered.

"No, a challenge," Ember said. Suddenly I saw her car dart to the right, pulling away from the main group. Two cars, a silver mustang and a green Aston Martin veered off after her. Lynch, Nikita, and Balthazar tried to run us off the road but we pulled off onto different streets before they could succeed. Over the mic I heard Dom barking orders to the others to go after Lynch.

"All right, keep going straight and we should be able to intercept her in about ten blocks," I informed. Jackson floored the car as I Bucky came over the mic saying, "How are these guys considered good drivers? They suck."

"Well compared to Ember they are," Steve commented.

"But even if she wasn't around they'd still suck. They just go fast. They have no finesse in their driving. Whoa, why are they shooting at me?!"

"Maybe because you're in a bright orange Lamborghini?" Jace suggested.

"Or because you're criticising their driving?" Steve added.

"Or you're closest to them," Brandon jumped in. As I looked down a side street, I briefly saw his car zip past on the road parallel with ours before buildings.

"Turn left at the next street," I said.

"We need to get her to the bridge, to corner her there. That way she can't go anywhere," Jack son said.

"Good idea." Going on the radio, I ordered, "Jace, Steve, Bucky, you three corral her towards the bridge. Brandon and Jackson will cut her off at the bridge."

"Got it," the three men replied simultaneously. Jackson veered to the left pulling up alongside Brandon. The two of them weaved in and out of cars. I was in awe of their skill because these streets were anything but empty. I found myself gripping the side of the car door, half out of excitement and half out of terror. I glanced over at Jackson who returned it, a cocky, adrenaline-filled smile gracing his face. This was his element, and he knew it. It calmed my fears about this a little, but not enough that I was going to loosen my grip on the car door unless absolutely necessary.

"She's heading towards the bridge!" Steve announced. I looked at my computer screen to see where they were. Jace was directly behind Ember, right on her tail. Steve and Bucky were on the roads parallel to the one Ember was on, limiting her escape options. It was a great tactic and it was working.

Brandon and Jackson, slid to a stop, blocking the entrance to the bridge. Ember skidded to a halt herself, barely three feet away from our cars. Jace, Steve, and Bucky blocked her escape from the back, barricading her in. Traffic was completely stopped but we didn't care. All we cared about was that not only had we trapped Ember, but she was ours again. There was no way Lynch could get her now, nor any of his henchman. Jackson and Jace were the first to exit their vehicles. The rest of us were quick to follow. Ember threw her car door open and demanded, "What the hell guys?"

"We're taking you home," Brandon answered.

"Lynch will not stop coming after any of you until he has me back again. Do you understand that?" she asked exasperatedly.

"We're Torettos. We always figure out a way."

She sighed, hanging her head and looking back up. Placing her hands on her hips, she argued, "No we don't. If we did, we would've found Jack by now, we would've had Lynch in jail by now. But we don't. We've all been on the run for too long and if me staying with Lynch means that he leaves you all alone, then I'm okay with that. I made this bed for myself, so now I need to lie in it. As long as you're all safe, that's all that matters to me. Can you not respect that?"

"No, we can't," Jackson spoke up. "Because you being in that environment is toxic and sooner or later, you'll end up dead. I know. I've seen it happen time and time again."

"You survived," Ember pointed out.

"Because of you and Jace and Brandon and Sam. I would be dead by now if it weren't for you. And I want to return that favor by getting you out of there alive as well. All you have to do is come with us."

"Ember, please," Jace said quietly, taking a step towards her with his hands in the air, a sign of peace. "Jackson isn't the only one that was saved by your family. I was too. You and Brandon gave me a home, a family, when I had none. You were there when I got that family back, and you were there when I lost it a few hours later. That pain was terrible, but nothing as terrible as it would be to lose you."

"Jace... you're not going to lose me," Ember told him, her voice trembling ever so slightly. "But you need to stop coming towards me."

He listened to her, but continued speaking. "Your mom needs you. Dom and Letty, they need their niece. Brandon, your brother, needs his sister. Jack will need you when he comes back because we're going to get him too. That prisoner that was freed because of you, I know he'd like to meet the person who helped in his release. Sam needs her best friend."

Ember looked away from him, off into the distance where the water of the Black Sea met the sky. Her fists were clenched as she silently debated on what to do.

"Em, please come home," Brandon begged.

She faced him. "I'll do it, but there's one condition. Will you hear me out?"

"Tell us."

Ember took a deep breath. "Okay. Now."

I don't know what registered with me first: the sound of the gunshot or the sight of Ember's body hitting the ground. But when both did, a scream for my best friend erupted from my throat. Jace was already by her side, cradling her in his arms. Blood soaked her shirt, a result of the wound in her chest.

Jackson and Brandon were the next ones by her, the former repeating her name as if it would wake her up, the latter shaking in place. Steve, Bucky, and Wilson appeared lost for words as the realization of what happened settled in with them.
  _______________________________________  

Shorter chapter but I hope you enjoyed! Reviews would be lovely :)