Sorry I've been MIA recently! I just started my job and between work, my suddenly existing love life, and then my suddenly non-existent love life, it's been kind of crazy. I'm going to try and update again. So enjoy!

Chapter Quote:

I have money, it's trust and character I need around me. You know, who you choose to be around you lets you know who you are."
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Chapter 24

Jace

Jackson had woken up a few moments after Brandon had left, as if sensing that people were leaving the room. When he asked me where the two members of our group had gone, I told him Ember had left a while ago and that Brandon went to go check on her. At the idea something might be wrong with Ember, Jackson hurriedly left the room. I tried to ignore my own gnawing worry because if something was wrong, Ember had Brandon and Jackson to take care of her. It wasn't like she and I were close at the moment. I was also pretty sure I was the last person she wanted to see after what I'd said to her.

Don't get me wrong. Me being mad and her breaking my trust, that was entirely true. But saying that my feelings had changed, that was a lie. I needed time though. She wasn't the only one Lynch had affected...

Finally, my worry got the better of me, and I made my way to go find the three that had left. I heard voices near the bathroom, so I followed that. Just before I rounded the corner, I heard Jackson's distinct voice say, "You've been through hell, and I know better than anyone the mental torture Lynch inflicts. I believe you when you say that faking your death was the only option you saw that got you a clean get away. And if no one else does, screw them."

It wasn't difficult for me to figure out who he was referring to. Jackson and I had never seen eye to eye, especially on how Ember escaped Lynch. But it didn't matter whether we agreed on it or not. What mattered was that she was okay. She obviously wasn't right now, and my presence would probably make things worse.

Jaws clenched, I resisted the urge to go see her. Instead I went to my room, shutting the door so everyone would ignore me. I pulled out my phone, reading through the emails I'd received from my mom. I'd always left them unread and unopened until after she died. Their contents had caused my heart to stop, had caused me to stop breathing. The news terrified me, mostly because I feared the main topic of the letters would ruin my friends' lives as well. It'd already ruined my childhood from an early age.

Sighing, I shut off my phone and closed my eyes. I had my plan on how to handle what the letters were about. It would solve my problem and a lot of other people's. With that slightly comforting thought, I fell asleep.

I was brought out of my slumber by a knock on my door. I groggily called out for them to come in. To my complete surprise, Mia entered, causing me to sit up in a rush.

"Is everything okay? Is it Ember?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Mia nodded. I couldn't help but notice the bags under her eyes in that moment. "She's fine. We're gathering all of you together for a meeting. When you're dressed and ready, meet us downstairs."

"Yes, ma'am," I answered, sitting up. Mia left, and I threw on some jeans and a shirt that wasn't crumpled from me sleeping in it. I made my way downstairs where all the kids had gathered. The adults were missing though.

"Hey man, where have you been all day? It's one in the afternoon," Wilson pointed out.

"I was asleep. No one thought to wake me?" I replied. "Or see if I was even in my room?"

"I mean we knocked, but I also remember that time you chucked a pillow at me when I tried to wake you one time, so I try to give you space when you're sleeping."

"That's a fair point."

"Is he violent at waking up to?" Brandon asked with a grin. "I'll make a mental note. For the rest of you, don't wake Ember up unless you have a very long stick. She's punched me once."

"I didn't know! I was still asleep!" Ember protested, lightly smacking him on the arm.

"I see a trend of the best drivers being mad when woken up," Wilson observed. "Yo Jackson, how are you when you wake up?"

"Mad, grouchy. At least until I've eaten a hearty breakfast and cup of coffee," Jackson answered.

"Definitely a trend here. The better driver you are, the grouchier you are in the morning."

"All right, listen up," Hobbs shouted over our chatter, entering the room with the rest of the adults. "We received intel about two things. First and foremost, the prisoner that Lynch had was rescued. He's currently on route to a hospital for severe malnutrition and dehydration. Second is that Lynch is leaving the area tomorrow. We plan to intercept him on his way to the private airstrip he's headed to. If we lose him there, we have no idea where he's going. He hasn't told anyone on the team where they're going next."

"How's Nico?" Ember queried, stiffening.

"Safe," Hobbs answered. "And still in the good graces of Lynch."

"What are our positions?" Sam inquired, steering the conversation back on track.

"Brandon, Jace, Jackson, Sam, Steve, Bucky, you're jobs will be to corner and take down Lynch's henchman. Nico can't help in case he gets away. We can't have Lynch suspecting Nico until we have Lynch in handcuffs. Dom, Letty, Rome, and I will be going after Lynch. Tej and Sam will be providing intel from the cars, and Mia from base. Everyone clear?" Hobbs stared each one of us in the eyes, searching for any hesitance in the plan.

"When do we leave?" Brandon asked.

"Hang on," I interrupted, locking eyes with Hobbs. "We're missing Ember in this plan."

"I'm not going," Ember said softly.

"What?" I demanded, echoed by a few other of the kids. "What do you mean you're not going?"

"Lynch can't know I'm alive. His mental instability could cause him to become more dangerous than he already is upon seeing me alive. We can't risk that happening. The mission starts tomorrow at four in the morning. I suggest you all get some rest tonight."

The group dispersed. The adults went together to the kitchen while the kids seemed to go off in different directions. My attention went to Ember. She turned down the hallway where her bedroom was located. Against my better judgment, I followed. Her door was already shut by the time I got there. I knocked after a few moment's hesitation. She called out, "Come in!"

I entered her room. It was ridiculously clean, and smelled that way too. She was at her desk, reorganizing her things. Ember looked up at me, shock clearly flashing across her face.

"Jace. What can I do for you?" She inquired, going back to what she'd been doing.

"Why aren't you going on the mission?"

"I already told you why. We can't afford to have Lynch know who I am. It's too dangerous."

"Bullshit," I snapped.

"Excuse me?" she replied, her tone tinged with hidden anger.

"I'm saying that's bullshit. It might be part of the truth, but it's not all of the truth. You and I both know damn well that you're the best driver here. You've beaten Jackson, I know you could beat me, and hell, you could probably beat Dom. So you can't tell me that we're leaving our best driver behind because of the little issue of messing with Lynch's temper because-"

"I'm a liability," Ember interrupted. She wasn't even bothering to hide her annoyance.

"How are you a liability when you're the best driver we have?"

She stared at me with those brilliant blue eyes. They appeared darker than normal, suggesting she was anything but calm. Last time I'd seen them that dark, she'd been furious with me having thought I'd gotten back with my ex. Finally, she said, "You really don't get it do you?"

"Get what?"

"I've lost my brother and father. I thought I lost you and Brandon that day Lynch got to the two of you. I told you how bad of shape I was in when I lost my dad."

"I remember," I said, stiffening a little bit at the memory of Ember in tears as she recounted what had happened to her dad.

She glanced down, suddenly unable to keep my gaze. "I can't go through that again. I can't..." Her breath hitched a little, and I suddenly realized she was using all her willpower to not cry. I ached to reach out to her, to pull her into my arms and let her know it was okay, because despite lying to her and myself, I was still very much madly in love with her. But Ember regained her composure before I could move, and she continued, "I would do anything for my family. I would die for them without hesitation. I'm a liability out there because I know that if I saw any of you about to be killed by Lynch or his henchman, I would step in to stop it, whether that meant joining Lynch again and suffering those consequences, or dying. I don't care what it is. But I know I can't do that. I've caused enough grief with everyone, and if we're to catch this son of a bitch, I can't jeopardize the mission."

"Did you tell Dom and Hobbs this?"

"No. They have enough on their plate. They don't need to worry about my mental stability too."

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she answered a little too quickly. Then adding, "Nothing you need concern yourself with."

"Why not?" I countered

"Why do you care?" she snapped. "You haven't talked to me unless forced ever since my stunt, and I don't blame you for it. I broke any trust you had in me, and I can't come back from that no matter how I hard I try or want to. You made yourself explicitly clear about how you feel about this whole situation, so I don't see how telling you what's going on in my head is going to change anything.

She turned her back on me to walk to her bed, but I gently grabbed her arm. The contact was enough for her to whirl around in surprise as I started, "Em, about what I-"

I was interrupted by the door opening. It was Sam, requesting my presence in the briefing room. Her eyes lingered on the interaction between me and Ember, but she said nothing.

"Go. The mission takes top priority," Ember said.

"We'll continue this conversation later," I told her, then followed Sam out of the room.

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Ember

The moment Jace left my room, I sank onto my bed, burying my head into my hands and breaking down for about the millionth time. My anxiety was through the roof ever since my stunt, and although I hadn't had another anxiety attack, I was just waiting for the next one to incapacitate me again.

Part of it came from the tension between me and Jace. Knowing how badly I'd hurt him, it got to me in a way words just couldn't explain. He was family to me, and while he wasn't dead, I'd lost him to what I was pretty sure was the point of no return. At least not to what I wanted it to be. I'd never gotten to say it back to him, and he didn't seem to care.

The other part of my anxiety was the terror of the possibility that I could lose another family member. No one, not even Jackson, could understand just how much the idea of losing anyone else in my family petrified me.

The mere thought of it paralyzed me.

But I told no one that. The adults worried about me enough as it is, and so did my friends. I'd already offloaded a ton of my problems to Brandon and Jackson. I was scared that if I told them I was slipping back into my old habits of not eating and sleeping again, then they would realize how bad off I really was right now. I couldn't do that to them. Not when they had so much of their own crap they were dealing with, including but not limited to a maniac dead set on destroying my family.

I lay my head down on my pillow, closing my eyes, and allowing the discussion between me and Jace to replay over and over in my head.  But my body had other plans, and I fell asleep surprisingly fast.

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"Jack, get down from there!" Mom ordered, staring up at an eight-year old Jack hanging upside down from a tree in our backyard. Five-year old me stood next to her, grinning up at my brother's antics.

"But it's fun!" Jack protested.

"Now, Jack." Her tone of voice made my brother hurriedly climb down. She glared at him once he was in front of her. "You could've fallen and broken your neck. You don't climb these trees unsupervised, and you do not encourage your little sister to do the same. You're grounded for the next week. Get inside."

Jack hung his head low, but I saw the smirk on his face, knowing full well he was already planning his next adventure. When we got inside the house, mom made the two of us lunch. Neither of us said anything, knowing full well that our mom was furious, and we didn't want to push any more buttons.

Once we finished our grilled cheese, Jack went upstairs to his room to play with his toys. I waited a bit before I went after him because I couldn't decide if I wanted to watch TV or hang with him. But he was my brother, and he was my idol. I wanted to be with him.

I poked my head into his room to find him dragging stuff around his room into very specific spots.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked, stepping inside.

"Making a fort."

"Can I help?"

"Yeah. Go find more blankets. And pillows. And don't let mom see you doing it."

I saluted him, then ran off to complete my mission. Keeping careful watch on my mom's whereabouts, I slowly but surely commandeered every pillow and blanket from my room, the guest room, and the living room. Every time I brought more to Jack, he got happier and happier.

"This is gonna be awesome!" He whispered excitedly. "Okay, now help me make the best and coolest fort ever!"

The two of set to work draping the blankets over chairs, cushions and his bed. The fort took up most of his room. We stuffed the remainder of the blankets and all the pillows inside. Then, grabbing toys, we entered it, blocking the entrance with a massive pillow.

"Okay, what game do you want to play?" Jack queried, laying down on the blankets.

"I Spy!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"All right, I spy with my little eye something... gray!"

"That's easy!" I laughed. "Your socks!"

My brother grinned. "Your turn."

"I spy with my little eye something..." my eyes narrowed in on his shark-tooth necklace. "White!"

"The pillow?" he queried.

"Nope!"

"Your shorts?"

"Nope!"

"Um..." Jack glanced around, but being five years old, I didn't understand the concept of subtlety, so my eyes were trained on his necklace as I was thoroughly enjoying his confusion. But he noticed what my eyes were staring at and said, "My necklace!"

I groaned. "I thought I was going to win that one..."

"You'll get there one day."

"Jack? Sorry for getting you in trouble..."

"It's okay. Mommy was bound to find out sooner or later. I get an awesome fort now though."

"Yeah, but you're grounded."

"It's okay Emmy. So, keep playing the game or a different one?"

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My eyes flew open at the same time my door did. It was Brandon, insisting I wake up immediately. I sat up groggily, asking what was going on. He replied, "Lynch pulled a fast one on us. He's moving now."

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Hope you enjoyed!