Chapter Quote:
"Nobody else. Just you and me, once and for all."
~Brian O'Connor
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Chapter 25

Jace

We were all rushing to the cars we'd chosen when we found out Lynch pulled a fast one on us. Mia and Ember went over to the computer station to keep eyes and ears on the cameras and radios in the area. I saw her give Jackson, Brandon, and Sam a hug, reluctant to let anyone go. As the three of them ran off to their rides, her eyes remained on Jackson. Jealousy and disappointment flared within me. Jealousy because she might be in love with someone else, and disappointment because she'd moved on so fast. Our fight was my fault with the way I reacted, and it was probably petty and ridiculous the way I was feeling. I wanted her to be happy though, and if that meant she went for Jackson, then so be it. But I still missed her...

"Jace, you there buddy?" Steve queried, waving his hand in front of my face.

"I'm here, I'm here," I said, sheepishly looking away from Ember's direction. I hadn't even realized I'd been staring.

Steve seemed to know what was going through my mind because he told me, "Go say bye to her."

"She doesn't want me around her."

"Right, sure." Rolling his eyes, my friend walked off. I got into my car, put my hands on the steering wheel, and stared ahead watching everything unfold before me. Everyone preparing for the ride and fight ahead, but I could only think of Ember, and how if I didn't make it out of this, she would believe for the rest of her life I hated her when that was so, so far from the truth. I pulled out my phone and texted her, saying: I want to continue our talk after this mission is over.

I figured she wouldn't respond, and if she did, it'd be a simple 'okay'. But as always, she surprised me, and her response gave me a glimmer of hope that the friendship I'd ruined could be salvaged. She replied: Please make sure you come back...

I glanced up at Ember to see her looking at me in the distance. Realizing I was staring back at her, she gave me a quick smile before hastily turning to the computer. I didn't like leaving her here. Not because I thought she couldn't handle herself, but because I thought we couldn't do this without her. Like her uncle to the adults, Ember was our leader. We looked to her when things got tough or hairy, regardless of our relationship with her. I wished I'd been able to convince her to come...

"Everyone ready? Let's take down Lynch!" Brandon yelled. There was a chorus of 'yeahs' from our group, but I stayed silent, my nerves beginning to act up. One by one we pulled out of the garage, flooring it to the airport where Lynch would be heading. We planned on intercepting him on the way there.

"All right, everyone, I've got eyes on Lynch and crew from the sky, and Ember has him on cameras," Mia informed. She then proceeded to tell us which route to take that would get us there the quickest. We were all going well over a hundred, dodging and weaving around cars. I think a few cop cars tried to follow us, but they quickly stopped, making me wonder if they'd been warned to drop the chase. Or maybe they just couldn't keep up. Our cars were much better equipped than theirs.

"Okay, guys. You're coming up on the airport. You've reached it just ahead of Lynch. He's going to be rounding the corner any minute. The plane he'll be taking is in Hangar Three. Sabotage it, and surround him," Mia ordered.

"Leave the distraction of Lynch to me and Jackson, Brandon, and Sam. Bucky, Steve, and Wilson will handle sabotaging the plane. Dom, you and the others take care of Lynch's goons," I said. Surprisingly, no one argued with me, not even Dom. It felt weird to be in charge or to not have Ember's input for what we should do.

"Whatever you do, don't go head on with Lynch," Jackson warned. "Last time I was with him, he was working on a prototype for his car that could shoot anything in front of him. It should've been finished by now, and knowing him, he'll have had it placed on his car as soon as possible."

"You're just now telling us about this?!" Brandon demanded.

"We can get mad later. But we know now, so let's use this information to protect ourselves," Ember said firmly. "I can't come onto the mic once the operation has officially started in case they get onto our radio frequency. We can't have them hearing my voice, or else that'll be a whole other problem we'll need to add to our list. So stay safe out there, come back, and kick his ass."

"We'll see you soon," Jackson said.

"I'm counting on it."

I floored the gas pedal, taking the lead with the guys behind me. We met Lynch head on, despite Jackson's warning. He and his crew scattered. I could see him start to bark orders as he flew past me. I braked and did a one-eighty spin to catch up with him, but to my surprise, Lynch had done the same. We faced each other, revving our engines. Lynch knew I wanted to take him on single-handedly. None of my team did though.

"Jace, what the hell are you doing?" Jackson demanded. "I literally just told you he probably has-"

"I know what you said," I interrupted. "I'll take care of Lynch. Just keep him near me, but stay out of his reach."

"What the hell are you doing, man?" Brandon groaned. "If you're trying to avenge what he did to Ember, she wouldn't want you getting yourself killed in the process."

"I'd like to believe that, but we weren't on speaking terms in the end." I hesitated for a moment before adding, "I just wish she knew that what I said to her in the club is true, no matter what bullshit I told her after that."

"What are you-"

"I'm ending this today." And with that, I shut off my comm.
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Ember

I paced nervously behind my mom as everyone conversed on the radio. I tried to stay away from it so in case I felt the need to talk to someone, my mom could stop me before I did. I couldn't risk endangering everyone on the mission if I spoke up.  Lynch and crew believed me to be dead. We needed to keep it that way.

"Jace, what the hell are you doing?" Jackson demanded, interrupting my thoughts. "I literally just told you he probably has-"

"I know what you said," Jace cut him off. "I'll take care of Lynch. Just keep him near me, but stay out of his reach."

"What the hell are you doing, man?" Brandon asked, sounding worried and partially exasperated. "If you're trying to avenge what he did to Ember, she wouldn't want you getting yourself killed in the process."

"I'd like to believe that, but we weren't on speaking terms in the end." He paused, then added, "I just wish she knew that what I said to her in the club is true, no matter what bullshit I told her after that."

"What are you-"

"I'm ending this today."

I rushed to the comm, trying to grab it, but my mom pulled me away as all hell broke loose on the radio. Brandon was yelling at Jace to come back, Jackson was trying to go after Jace, and no matter what they said, he didn't respond, leading me to believe he'd turned off his comm.

"Damn it! What is he doing?" Dom demanded.

"He's taking Lynch one on one!" Jackson replied, sounding frantic. "If Lynch doesn't kill him, I will!"

"Does anyone else find it weird that Lynch is letting Jace lead him away?" Sam inquired.

I finally broke free of my mom and got on the radio. Trying to imitate her the best I could, I asked, "Did Jace turn off his comm?"

"Yeah, he did," Wilson responded grimly.

"Can we get eyes on him?"

"Only from the air, but this plan to sabotage the plane isn't going as- get down!"

Explosions sounded off, and I felt the blood draining out of my face.

"Damn it! Lynch knew we were coming!" Bucky yelled. "We need to get out of here!"

"What do you mean he knew we were coming?" Hobbs snapped furiously.

"I mean this plane was rigged to explode the moment we tried to get into its system. And has anyone noticed they haven't tried coming to this hangar?"

"Get out of there!" I commanded. "I don't care if Lynch and his crew get away. Something isn't right here, so get out! Jace, if you can hear me, that means you too!"

"Uh, guys, GUYS! They have tanks! I repeat: they have tanks!" Tej announced on the radio.

"Everyone, fall back!" Hobbs barked. "We'll get them another day."

"There's not going to be another day if you don't get these tanks off my ass!" Sam retorted. My blood pounded in my veins as I listened to my family struggle to escape. Our lives were more important than any mission. We'd already lost enough in our family...
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Jackson

It was all out chaos. Our team had been split up. I could barely see anything in the fray. Lynch had somehow known we were coming, and I was dying to know how. My goal was to first get out of this mess, my second goal to find Jace and help him out, and then punch his lights out for being so stupid as to take on Lynch by himself. I knew he hated Lynch for what he did to Ember, I did too, more than he would ever be able to comprehend, but his final stunt seemed personal. There was more to his hatred for Lynch than what he was saying.

I swerved to avoid being run over by a tank, then slammed on the brakes to narrowly miss being hit by one of my own team members. Dust, dirt, and smoke drifted all around, making it difficult to see. It gave me an idea. It was hard for the enemy to see us if they couldn't.

That had sounded better in my head...

With the brakes still pressed, I floored the car, burning rubber and creating a hell of a lot of smoke. My plan seemed to work as the tanks and the other cars tried to avoid it, so they could see where they were going. I used the opportunity to escape, heading in the direction I'd last seen Jace and Lynch go in.

"Jackson, where are you going?" Dom growled.

"I'm going to get Jace. I'll meet you back at the compound. That's a promise," I said sincerely. Dom Toretto still scared the shit out of me. I was pretty sure he'd kill me if I put a toe out of line. I kind of thought he wanted to kill me already, and that the only reason he hadn't was because I was under Ember's protection. I was going to have to thank her for it one day...

About three miles away, I found Lynch and Jace out of their cars, pummeling each other with their fists and anything they could get their hands on. Although Lynch was nearly double Jace's weight, my comrade appeared to be holding his own surprisingly well.  That isn't to say he looked like shit from the fight, however.

I came to a skidding stop, hopping out of my car and running over to them. I yanked Lynch off of Jace who pushed himself off the ground and lunged at him, knocking me out of the way in the process. I hit the ground hard, my comm piece being knocked out of my ear from the impact.

"Jason, look out!" I shouted as I watched in horror as Lynch picked up a metal pipe and swing it with all his might at Jace's head. He dodged out of the way, but the pipe still grazed him, leaving a gash next to his hairline. Dazed, Jace rolled over. I got up, rushing toward Lynch. He had prepared for it though, feinting to the right and slamming the pipe into my head from behind. My world went black for a few seconds. Pain seared through me.

I forced myself to stay awake. I needed to for Jace. He was in just as bad condition as me, if not worse. If we had any hope of getting out alive, I had to stay alert. Hard to do when it feels like someone just stabbed you in the head. God, I hope that wasn't why I was in so much pain...

Thankfully, my vision came back relatively quickly. I found Lynch towering over us, a gun in hand. I swallowed, preparing for the end. I never wanted it to end like this, but always figured it would. It came with the territory of this job. Most people say they see their life flash before their eyes when faced death, but all I saw were the faces of my new family: Ember, Dom, Mia, Brandon... all of them. Mostly Ember though. I'd let her down. Like I always did. I was going to die having let her down too.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a human being," Lynch mused, kicking Jason violently in the ribs as he tried to stand up. "I expected more from you."

"Like he gives a damn about your approval," I spat, pushing myself up. Lynch let me stand, eyeing me in amusement.

"Shame Ember had to die. I actually liked her. A lot feistier than her brother. She must've been more of a Toretto."

"She's dead because of you," I snarled.

Lynch lifted his gun, pointing it straight at me. "I could kill you. After all the trouble you caused me, all I need to do is pull the trigger. But there are a few more things I want you to see before you die. Besides, you move, and I kill Jace here."

Lynch shifted around me, allowing him full view of my car. He pointed the gun at it and shot out my tires. I cringed inwardly, knowing it would barely be able to drive now.

With a satisfied smile, Lynch got into his car just as Jace got himself up. Rolling down the window, Lynch said, "I'll see you soon, son."

"I'm counting on it," I snarled. Jace and I watched as he drove away. My body ached from the fight and the hit. I could only imagine how Jace felt.

"Come on, let's get back," I said. "And on the way, you're going to explain what the hell you were thinking taking on Lynch by yourself. If Ember didn't love you so damn much, I'd shoot you myself."

Jace gritted his teeth, staring after Lynch's car. "If I tell you, you don't tell anyone us until I tell you to."

"Fine. Let's go already before he decides we're better off dead, though."
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I'm so, so sorry this chapter took so long to post! Work has been kicking my ass, and I literally get maybe fifteen minutes a night to write, if even that. Reviews would be great!