{"id":20416,"date":"2022-12-23T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T16:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/?p=20416"},"modified":"2022-11-18T22:37:49","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T06:37:49","slug":"sylum-advent-2022-december-23rd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2022-december-23rd\/","title":{"rendered":"Sylum Advent 2022: December 23rd"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Title:<\/strong> Shifting Tides: Race Wars<\/span>
\nEpisode<\/strong> Order: 6 <\/span>
\nPairing:<\/strong> Dom\/Brian <\/span>
\nRating:<\/strong> PG-13 <\/span>
\nSummary:<\/strong> It\u2019s time for Race Wars, during which everything comes to a head.<\/span><\/p>\n

~*~<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian held out his ID to the guy who was checking at the gates to the airstrip while taking in the scene before him. On either side of the road he was on, there stretched an endless sea of cars, trailers, and RVs. The landing strips themselves were set up for the various races that would be going on over the weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

The guy handed back his ID. “Dom and his crew are to the right and around halfway down.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Thanks,” Brian said and carefully made his way forward, mindful of the people who were milling around and just not paying attention to others driving in. He turned right onto the access road that paralleled the nearest landing strip and kept his eye out both for the familiar cars of his group and dumbasses with no sense of self-preservation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure enough, he found them about halfway down. They were already set up and ready to go, making their presence obvious. Brian was a little annoyed that he hadn’t been able to come with and help out, but he’d been summoned to a stupid meeting with Bilkins and Tanner. It wasn’t like he could say no, but he also knew that this weekend they were moving on the corrupt Feds working the case. Why they were suddenly moving quickly, he had no idea since he wasn’t privy to that part of the case, but Lindsey and Booth had warned them it was happening and to be alert to anything in case someone got the word out to Tran. But now, it was nearly noon and much later than he wanted to be there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Han saw him first and directed him where to park, and as soon as the engine was off, Brian slid out and took in the whole setup. “That is a big ass RV. Where you been hiding that thing?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“You know us. Go big or go home,” Han said and grinned. “It’s nice to have a place to pile in and sleep overnight. We keep it at a storage place. We tried tents and shit early on. Didn’t fly. Too many pampered divas in our group.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian snorted. “So I take it we won’t be roughing it in the wilderness anytime soon.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Hell, no. Could we? Of course. Would we? Not on a bet,” Dom said as he walked up and slung an arm around Brian’s neck. “Not even Josiah and Jose will rough it unless absolutely necessary, and they lived in a time when that was the norm, what with their life choices and all.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Nothing wrong with knowing your worth,” Brian said, laughing a little. Then he frowned. “Whose car is that?” he asked, pointing to one he’d never seen before, but he also didn’t see anyone he didn’t recognize offhand, unless they were in the RV.<\/span><\/p>\n

“That is Jesse’s father’s car,” Dom said, his tone pretty much saying everything he thought about that. “We tried to talk him out of bringing it here, but he decided he wanted to honor his dad by showing it off and wouldn’t hear a word against it. We’ve warned him against racing it, and he’s said he doesn’t intend to, but he’s also reckless, impulsive, and headstrong, and if he gets it into his head…”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian winced. “Yeah. Hope he doesn’t end up wrecking it or something. Isn’t his dad in prison?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, on a felony theft charge. Wouldn’t have been so bad if the dumbass hadn’t run from the police and caused mayhem while he was at it.” Han shook his head. “Jesse didn’t even bother asking us to try to help him out with it, he was so unimpressed by his father’s stupidity.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He’s due to get out in a few months,” Dom said. “But yeah, he brought the car and I can’t help but feel like it was a bad idea. But there was no stopping him and he’s an adult.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Mia snorted and looked up from her book as they approached. “That’s what the state of California said but in practice that’s highly debatable. Glad you could finally make it.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“You know how that goes,” Brian said, mindful not to say anything outright because any number of Tran’s people could be lurking around, and Vampires also had very impressive hearing, so Tran and his cousin could be listening in on every word, and they didn’t have to be anywhere nearby to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian had been briefly mortified to know that any time he had sex, any one or all <\/em>of the Vampires could easily hear him, but then he realized that he didn’t actually give a shit and went about business as normal. If they wanted to perve on him, then they were free to do so. What did he care so long as he got his?<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yep. Everything’s all set up, so go and mingle, check shit out,” Mia said, making a shooing motion as she went back to her book. Not a medical book, for once, but clearly recreational. “I’ll keep an eye on everything.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Han laughed and grabbed Brian’s hand, tugging him along. “Come on. Let’s go see who else is lurking around.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian tried to push everything else to the back of his mind for the time being, since there was absolutely nothing he could do other than show his face here along with the rest of the group. Everything else was up to the others.<\/span><\/p>\n

~*~<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel jogged down the stairs and then hopped over the last three, hitting the floor with a loud thud. “Okay, listen up. As we expected, there’s a shipment incoming. Our people on border patrol clocked the truck passing through ten minutes ago. Same license plate and driver, and the truck had the distinguishing marks that our people observed, so we’re good to go.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’ll call Dom and let him know,” Belle said, pulling out her phone and heading into the dining room.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel nodded and looked at the rest. “The driver is a known Rogue associate of Tran’s, so keep that in mind and keep your wits about you. He’ll have no qualms about taking you out, and take care that there’s no one else within that’s not visible, both in the cab and in the back when it’s opened up. Don’t underestimate them, because Tran would take the opportunity to take any one of us out, especially Dom, and he won’t expect that Dom would hand this off to anyone else.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He doesn’t know we’re here, so that makes sense,” James said. “We should go ahead and get to where the cars are currently stashed. We’ve got some time, but not that much, especially if they’re not driving like an old lady.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Belle snorted as she came back out. “I’ve seen some old ladies whose driving would scare the hair right off your damn chest. Dom said to be careful and to not take any extreme risks. If it’s too dicey, let it go. He doesn’t want to have to sweep one of our asses up because of Tran.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’d definitely be inconvenient on the highway,” Nathan said, grinning when Belle gave him a look. “Suki’s in the best place she could be, so don’t worry about her, and Adam is there at the races in case any of the humans get stupid with their physical health. Everyone needs to keep their head in the game. Don’t underestimate anyone or anything, and push everything else aside. We all have our parts to do today, so let Dom worry about his group and the Feds worry about their own damn people.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone nodded and Daniel shooed them out of the house and into the garage, where they piled into a Durango and headed out.<\/span><\/p>\n

~*~<\/span><\/p>\n

“Oh no.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian looked up and his eyes went wide when he saw Jesse, father’s car in tow, walking up to Tran and one of the guys running the bets for the races, with a pink slip in his hand. He turned to Leon, who he’d been hanging with for the last half hour while Dom and Han manned the grill. “Tell me he’s not doing what I think he’s doing.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He is,” Leon said, groaning as he took off toward the race, and Brian followed directly behind him.<\/span><\/p>\n

They both skidded to a stop at the driver’s side window of the car. “Jesse, man, what the hell are you doing?” Leon asked, clearly trying to remain calm.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Racing, that’s what. It’s what we’re here for, man.” Jesse’s grin was cheerful.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Dude, we saw you putting up the pink slip,” Brian said, then lowered his voice. “This is your dad’s car. What if you lose?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m not gonna lose, man. This car is the best. Besides, someone needs to teach Johnny a lesson, put him in his place.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Risking your dad’s car is not the way to do it,” Leon whispered harshly. “What if you actually lose? You have no idea what Tran has under that hood. Do you really want to risk your dad\u2019s car?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m not gonna, man. Now back off and let me do this. You’re making me look bad.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian opened his mouth, but Leon rested a hand on his arm and shook his head, motioning for him to get out of Jesse’s way. “We can’t let him do this,” Brian protested. \u201cYou know Tran\u2019s damn good at what he does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s done,” Leon muttered. “I know that look on his face, and once he dons that expression there\u2019s no going back, no reasoning with him. He’s not going to listen to anyone or anything, and once he hits that start line, he can’t back out. He’ll forfeit and lose the car anyway, and he’s not going to rethink it before it\u2019s all said and done.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“So what do we do?” Brian asked, running his hands through his hair.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Pray.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian looked up at the sky and blew out a breath before turning to watch whatever was going to unfold. He wasn’t religious and was agnostic at best, but he was sorely tempted to start praying on the off chance that there was actually a god out there that really existed, because there was no way this was going to end well.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I can’t look,” Leon said, ducking his face into Brian’s shoulder as the race started.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian watched as both cars took off head to head for the first few seconds, until Tran, who clearly had a superior engine set up, essentially smoked Jesse and was the clear winner. “Shit.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Leon sighed and they started running toward where Jesse had come to a stop, but before they could even get there, Jesse floored it and took off across the area toward one of the exits.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Did he seriously just do that?” Leon asked incredulously as Jesse drove out of sight. “This is not good. You don’t screw over someone like Tran.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Where the hell is he going with my car?” Tran asked them as they turned around. He looked pissed, which was fair, because asshole or not, he’d won that race fair and square.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I have no idea,” Brian said, shaking his head. “But keep calm. We’ll figure it out and get your car to you, okay? Jesse’s young and has a tendency to panic and act before thinking.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Tran’s expression was dark, making Brian shiver a little. “That little shit has got an hour to get back here with my car or he’s not going to like my response.” Tran slid back into his car and drove back toward his own area.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Well, fuck. This is a mess. We’re not going to be able to find him in an hour, let alone get the car back, and he knows it,” Leon said as the two took off toward their own area.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Dom, we got a huge problem,” Brian said, grabbing his Mate’s arm and pulling him toward the RV.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Adam, don’t let those burn,” Dom said and followed him and Leon inside, where Mia and Han were working in the small kitchen. “What’s going on?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Jesse just raced against Tran and lost<\/em>,” Leon told him. “He put up the pink slip to his dad’s car for his part of the bet. When he lost, he hightailed it out of there in the car, and Tran is pissed off. He’s given us an hour to get the car back here, but he knows that’s not going to happen.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Jesus Christ,” Dom muttered as Han wiped his hands and pulled out his phone. “This is the last damn thing that we need. He knows the score and what\u2019s at stake. What the hell was Jesse thinking?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He was talking about someone needing to teach Tran a lesson. He had a lot of faith in that car’s abilities to outrace Tran’s.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The car is nice, and his dad did a good job with it, but it’s not built to go against most of the cars you’ll find here,” Mia said. “It was never his father\u2019s intention for it to be an actual racing car. Jesse knows that.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He’s not answering his phone, and after the second time it went straight to voicemail, so I think he turned it off,” Han told him.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We need to find him,” Dom said, rubbing his face. “If Tran finds him first, he’ll kill him.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Vince slammed into the doorway. “Tran and Lance just took off on their bikes like bats out of hell. Rumor is spreading that Jesse cheated Tran out of a bet and took off with Tran’s winnings.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, he bet his dad’s car,” Brian told him and blew out a breath when Vince started to curse.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m going to head back to the house, see if he’s there,” Vince said, taking off before anyone could say anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’ll go with him,” Mia said, running after him and calling for Vince.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Han, you’re with me. I want Adam to stay here, keep an eye on the rest of our humans and an eye on what the rest of Tran’s people are doing. Also, they need to keep an eye out for Jesse in case sanity returns and he comes back.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Brian, come on. I know a few places where he tends to hole up, and I’d like to have you around for a witness since you’re still part of the LAPD.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“You got it,” he said, and he rested a hand on Leon’s shoulder. “We’ll do our best to get him back here in one piece.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Leon nodded and looked at Dom. “Remember, he’s already agreed to a Turning in case of being near death…just in case.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, we’ll do everything we can to make sure he survives,” Dom said and they headed out, Han catching up as soon as he finished filling Adam in on what was going on.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Brian, give me your keys and I’ll follow,” Han said. “Try to keep him calm.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian nodded and tossed over his keys before getting into the passenger’s side of Dom’s car.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I can’t believe he was so fucking stupid,” Dom said, half-growling as they picked their way through the crowd. “I don’t know what he was thinking.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I don’t know, man. Not a psychologist, so I couldn’t even begin to guess what might actually be going through his head. Could be he genuinely thought he had a chance. Maybe he lost his mind and is having delusions of grandeur.” Brian shrugged when Dom glanced at him. “Maybe he’s suffering from a severe case of the Jan Bradys. I don’t know.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The Jan Bradys?” Dom asked, amusement tinging his words.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian nodded as they finally got out of the area where people were apt to walk out in front of everyone and Dom sped up as he headed toward the same exit that Jesse left through. “Yeah, the Jan Bradys. Mom was a big Brady Bunch fan so I grew up on it. Talking about some kind of middle-child issues. I mean, he’s surrounded by badasses who are immortal, and many of whom have been Vampires since before his own dad was born. All of you are impressive and have done impressive things in your lives. Some of you are even right off the pages of history books. People who have shaped the country and the world we live in, in ways both big and small.<\/span><\/p>\n

“And now you’re getting an influx of shiny new people in your lives. You’ve got me, Belle has Suki, and Daniel’s found a descendant who looks like a slightly twinky version of himself. Leon seems to take everything in stride as long as it doesn’t exceed his comfort zone and he never cares if he’s the center of attention. He seems pretty secure in his place in your lives, mainly because he’s a great-grandson of Mia’s.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Vince just goes full-on obnoxious asshole and pokes people repeatedly until they bite back, sometimes literally. If he wants attention, he makes sure you know it, but unless you’re completely ignoring his existence he doesn’t seem to get bent if he’s not focused on. But from what I’ve seen, Jesse likes to be noticed, and wants to be seen.<\/span><\/p>\n

“So maybe with all the attention elsewhere, with what’s been going on and him not having a big part of it anymore now that there’s a bunch more of your Clan involved and everything, he’s feeling a little like Jan, surrounded by the Marcias and the Cindys in the Clan and all the new people as well.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“And this was his way to stand out,” Dom said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Well, yeah. He said something about teaching Tran a lesson and putting him in his place, but maybe it was more than that. Maybe he thought that if he did it, he’d be some kind of hero in everyone else’s eyes. Teaching the guy who has been the bad guy in your story that he’s better than him, that Jesse’s not just some kid from a broken home with a dad in prison and a mother who has kind of washed her hands of him since he turned 18 a few years back.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“So what you’re saying is that little asshole needs therapy.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian snorted. “Yeah, pretty much. He just picked a hell of a time to try to stand out, to make waves when so much is going on all at once. I don\u2019t think he realizes the precarious and dangerous position he\u2019s just put himself in.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, this was the last thing we needed, and I’m honestly regretting having ever involved him in any of this. It’s clear he’s not taking this and Tran as seriously as he needs to.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He’s still young and probably feels he’s invincible. I’ve personally had too much happen in life to ever feel that way, so I can’t relate, but I’ve heard enough from others to know that a lot of people feel that way until reality slaps them in the face.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m just afraid it’s gonna get him killed.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Hopefully not, but you can’t control what he does and doesn’t do,” Brian pointed out reasonably. “Even if you had frozen him out of this situation, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have been there today and done the same damn thing. And if he survives it, maybe it’s the life lesson he needed.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian blew out a breath. “Okay, so where to first?”<\/span><\/p>\n

~*~<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel waited patiently at his designated area while waiting for word of the truck’s approach, wondering what was going on at the races and how Lindsey was doing. Honestly, he was more worried about Lindsey than Dom’s group, because Dom’s group knew the score with Tran and how dangerous he was. The Feebs were the wild card, so he hoped that no one would gun for him for his part in taking them down. People got weird when it came to money.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Truck’s in sight. ETA for your locations is five minutes,” Nathan called out over the radio.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Copy that,” Daniel said and started his engine, pulling onto the highway from the secluded area he’d been sitting. “Everyone knows their jobs. Belle, you be damn careful getting into the cab of that truck.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“You know me,” she replied, sounding almost cheerful about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, I do, which is why I’m saying to be careful. I don’t wanna have to go back to Suki and tell her you got your dumb ass dusted by being overconfident.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’ll be fine, you fusspot. You do your thing and let me do mine.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel huffed and shook his head and watched as the truck came into sight. He didn’t bother with speeding up until the truck blew by them. “Go!” he called out over the radio and then gunned the engine.<\/span><\/p>\n

It took less than a minute for all of them to get into the appropriate places and he hoped that Belle didn’t do something too dumb.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the car placed directly in front of the truck, Belle finished clipping her harness to the line and glanced over at Nathan, who was driving. “I’m a go.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Good luck and be careful. You got your knives?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, I got my Lucas specials on. Just keep the car steady while I make the jump,” she replied, climbing out the sunroof and onto the back of the car. Then she reached for the grappling hook. “Now.” She steadied herself as the cars switched positions again and she aimed as soon as she was in place, taking out the passenger-side window and it was ripped out, slamming into the road and shattering into bits of glass.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m gone,” she said, dropping the hook and taking the second that Nathan held up for her, shooting it directly into the truck. Once it was secure, she steadied herself and jumped, flinching a little at the sound of a gunshot.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Got a double-barrel shotgun, sawed off,” Nathan said through the radio in her ear. “He’ll have to reload after the second.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Got it,” she said, and she strengthened her grip and then used her hand to make a movement in his sight. The second shot fired and she sprung into action, maneuvering herself into the cab before the guy could reload.<\/span><\/p>\n

He hissed and flashed his eyes at her and she responded in kind, releasing the long knife resting along her forearm and jamming it into his neck, piercing clean through to the other side. Then she ripped her arm to the side even as he turned into dust.<\/span><\/p>\n

She slipped into the seat, grimacing at the dust that swirled all around her, and got the truck under control. “Asshole is gone. No sign of anyone else in the cab.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Keep the truck steady. James will be joining you to make sure. Exit is five minutes away and we can double back to the warehouse,” Daniel said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Copy that,” Belle said, keeping an eye on the back area.<\/span><\/p>\n

It didn’t take long before James leapt onto the truck and grinned at her. “Fancy meeting you here.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Belle rolled her eyes. “You’re such an idiot. Make sure there’s no one back there lurking without getting your head taken clean off.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, yeah,” James said as he started inspecting the area. “Yeah, no one’s here. Could still be someone in the back of the truck, but we won’t know until we get where we\u2019re going.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Thirty minutes later they pulled into the warehouse where the rest of the goods were located so they could offload and then ditch the truck elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel hopped out. “Got a call from Josiah. Tran’s warehouses were raided and the Rogues taken out. The few humans there were just locals who thought it was a legit job. They’ll make sure they’re okay. All of them knew they were Vampires, so…” He shrugged.<\/span><\/p>\n

“That’s Josiah’s mess to clean up,” Jason said as he used cutters to deal with the locks. “Let’s see what’s in here?”<\/span><\/p>\n

They opened up the doors to a whole lot of…nothing. The truck was completely empty.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” David said, shaking his head. “Why the hell would they send through a truck with nothing in it?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“No idea. Just to fuck with us, probably. Take a chance on killing one of us.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Or maybe they got smart and changed out trailers before they got to our area,” Belle muttered. “Or offloaded the cargo to a different truck. Oh well. One less Rogue in the world.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, I hear you, Dom. Alright.” James hung up the phone. “We’ve got a problem.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“What now?” Daniel asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Jesse welched on a bet with Tran, who is pretty much out for blood. The hour Tran gave them is more than up, he didn’t re-show at Race Wars, and Johnny and Lance are out looking for him,” James said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“What kind of bet?” Nathan asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

“He bet his dad’s car,” James said as he ran his hands through his hair.<\/span><\/p>\n

Belle grimaced. “Yeah, Tran’ll kill Jesse if he gets to him first. What do we do?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Dom said to dump the truck and then half of us head to the races to keep an eye on the few left there, and the rest of us to the house. They’re heading that way now.”<\/span><\/p>\n

~*~<\/span><\/p>\n

Dom, Han, and Brian all climbed out of the cars at the house, shaking their heads when Mia and Vince ran out.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We couldn’t find him anywhere we thought he would go to hole up.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“No, he probably didn’t want us to find his dumb ass,” Vince said. “He’s not shown up or called here, either, and we’ve searched the house and garage. I even went over to the shop to see if maybe he was there, but nothing. He’s probably been driving around out there, freaking the fuck out over everything. I can’t believe he did this.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He’s not answering his phone. It keeps going straight to his voicemail,” Mia added.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, we’ve done nothing but get the same thing,” Dom said. “Half of the second group will be here as soon as everything with that truck is sorted. It was empty, so it was a decoy or some shit. I really don’t care at this point.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Han shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is getting Jesse out of this mess in one piece.”<\/span><\/p>\n

They all headed up toward the house when they heard an engine revving as it came down the street, and the car pulled up along the curve.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dom sighed in relief. “Jesse.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Before he could move, Vince was down the stairs and running over to Jesse. “What the hell, man? Why’d you just take off? You know Tran is out for your blood now!”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I know! It was stupid, but I was just so scared, man. You know what my dad’s gonna do when he finds out that I lost his car?” Jesse said as he got out and rounded it so they were both standing on the sidewalk.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Worse than Tran is going to do because you’ve basically stolen what was his?” Vince retorted.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Let’s get inside,” Dom said just as the sound of two motorcycles racing down the street reached his ears. “Get down!” he yelled at the two, but before Vince and Jesse could react, Tran raised the gun he had and fired at them both multiple times. Lance did the same.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then Tran smirked at him and took off. Dom pointed to Jesse and Vince, who were both clearly moving and in pain as he ran toward his own car. “Han, Mia, get them inside and Turn their asses. They won’t survive that to get to the hospital.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian followed behind him and got into his own, making sure his own gun was out and next to him, along with his badge in case he needed it. They raced through the streets, catching up to the motorcycles, though at one point one of them veered off.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian was paying more attention to Dom trying to run Tran off the road, so he didn’t see the second motorcycle come up behind him, raising the automatic Lance was carrying. “Shit!” He ducked down and slammed on his brakes, forcing the motorcycle to veer to the right, and as soon as the bike overshot him, he gunned it again and swerved, slamming into the bike and the rider, sending them flying over the edge.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Vampire or not, have fun with that, asshole,” Brian muttered. He grimaced at the bullet holes that had taken out the back glass and focused back on what was going on around him, swerving again when Tran leveled his gun at Brian’s car and fired. Somehow he’d edged his way between Brian and Dom’s cars.<\/span><\/p>\n

He had to give it to him. Focusing on the human and breaking Dom’s concentration was a smart idea, but unfortunately for Tran, Brian didn’t ruffle easily at all and he had no intention of this being the day that he breathed his last.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian grabbed his gun and, in a maneuver that would probably turn Dom’s hair white if he had any, half-leaned out the driver’s side window and shot at him twice, catching Tran in the side with both of them, before sliding back in and correcting his trajectory before he ended up driving off the damn road. While the elevation might not kill him if he went tumbling down, it’d sure hurt like hell.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tran, clearly hurting from the shots, swerved off the road and into a nearby rail yard. Brian followed directly behind and he heard tires screeching as Dom spun around to follow. Brian slipped out of the car, using the door as cover to get behind it, keeping his gun leveled at Tran’s chest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Behind him, Dom got out of the car, and when Tran leveled the gun in his direction, Brian shifted and fired, his bullet puncturing straight through Tran’s wrist and forcing him to drop the gun.<\/span><\/p>\n

“You just had to keep poking at us with a stick, didn’t you, Johnny?” Dom asked as he walked by, sword in hand. “But you never did know when to quit. We’re not playing by human rules anymore.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Tran held up his hands. “I’m weaponless and injured. I demand to be taken in front of the Vampire Council to defend my actions.” His expression was almost smug, which Brian didn’t understand, but there was a lot about the Vampire world that he didn’t know yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dom tilted his head. “Yeah, that’s gonna be a ‘no’ from me.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The expression on Tran’s face was almost offended. “You have to abide by the rules, Toretto, especially with being the 2IC of Border.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Actually, I am. I’ve been in touch with Josiah the entire time, and I’ve been given leave by the Council to hunt you for sport. They’re tired of your shit. Hell, even Santa Anna was tired of your shit, and he dropped you like a bad habit a long ass time ago.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Dom pointed his sword at Tran. “You’ve been a thorn in our side for decades. You Turned my sister without consent, you cause damage and chaos wherever you go, you’ve manipulated and stolen from my family, and you’ve essentially killed two of my Chosen, my family, even if they do manage to get Turned in time. And you didn’t do it for a fucking car. You did it because you get pleasure in causing me and my family pain and strife. I’m done with your ass. Now you can stand there and take your dusting like a man, because you know this has been coming for a while.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Or you can pick up that short sword I know you got on that bike and give a bit of a fight. It’ll at least make your dusting more entertaining.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian watched as Tran pulled a sword from his bike, holding it in his hand that was now healed. This was way beyond his level of experience, so he just stood back and watched, making sure no one else came up behind them to cause problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Not gonna take it easy on you, old man,” Tran said as they started circling one another.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Who you calling old? You’re just as old as I am, dumbass. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re older.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Maybe, but I’m definitely prettier.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Keep telling yourself that in the few minutes you got left,” Dom retorted as he gripped his sword in both hands. \u201cMight make what\u2019s coming to you easier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian watched as Dom sprung forward and swung the sword in an arc, down toward Tran’s weak side. Tran managed to brace himself and parry it, but the resounding clang of metal against metal practically had Brian’s whole body vibrating from the force behind it. He wouldn’t be surprised if Tran’s teeth were rattling from the impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tran audibly growled and his eyes started to glow as they began trading blows, swords flying in a blur that Brian could barely keep up with as they danced around each other. It would be an impressively entertaining sight if Brian didn’t know these two were trying to kill each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian’s stomach was in a knot as he watched for the next several minutes. Both of them seemed pretty evenly matched for skill, but he noticed that Tran seemed to allow his emotions to lead him far more than Dom, who was colder and more calculated in his movements. Tran had managed to make Dom bleed, the cuts mild to moderate, but Dom had re-injured the side where Brian’s shots had landed at least twice.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Tran got angrier and more frustrated, his swings became more erratic, and soon enough a wild swing had him teetering off balance and Dom took the opportunity, bringing his sword up and quickly slashing through Tran’s neck. Brian flinched, but instead of blood, dust flew into the air and with a sharp clang and a rustle, all that Tran had left behind fell to the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian walked over and stared down at the clothing and sword. “Well, that was different.” He looked up when Dom snorted. “You okay?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah, I’m good.” He reached down and picked up Tran’s sword, leaving everything else there. “Let’s get back to the house, and see what’s going on.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian nodded and then groaned when his phone started to ring. “It’s Tanner. Keep quiet for a minute.” He answered once Dom nodded. “Yeah? What’s up?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Bilkins has been arrested and taken in for questioning with a lot of other agents. The whole operation has gone belly up, with rumors of corruption being the driving force behind it all, and that Tran is somehow the actual criminal. You need to get back to the station now,” Tanner said, tone terse and clearly frustrated. “Now<\/em>, Brian.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanner hung up before Brian could say anything and he made a face. “Duty calls. I gotta go before he actually comes looking for me and he ends up with questions we are not going to want to answer.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Dom nodded. “Phone.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian handed it over and watched Dom type a number into it. “This is for a lawyer named Angela Martinez. She’s a Chosen and one of the most vicious lawyers in LA. If they try anything funny, you call her. I’ll let her know you might be contacting her. Don’t let them railroad you into taking the blame for any of this.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I won’t, don’t worry. I’m not going to go down for any of this. The op was ill-conceived at best.” Brian took his phone back and pulled Dom into a kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Now go and make sure Vince and Jesse made it.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Dom nodded and they headed back to their cars, and Brian watched as Dom sped away, and he took the opposite direction to get to the station.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Title: Shifting Tides: Race Wars Episode Order: 6 Pairing: Dom\/Brian Rating: PG-13 Summary: It\u2019s time for Race Wars, during which everything comes to a head.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[184,1049,137,66],"tags":[732,1050,86],"class_list":["post-20416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-side-stories","category-sylum-advent-2022","category-sylum-events","category-sylum-stories","tag-series-shifting-tides","tag-sylum-advent-2022","tag-writer-gil-grissom"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Da1M-5ji","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9691,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2017-december-23rd\/","url_meta":{"origin":20416,"position":0},"title":"Sylum Advent 2017: December 23rd","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"*** Title: Episode Three \u2013 Revelations Season: Shifting Tides Author: Starkindler Main Pairings: Dom\/Han Background Pairings: Adam\/Nathan Rating: R Summary: More is revealed about Vampires and Brian figures out just how deep he's landed in it. Link to Archive","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2017"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2017","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2017\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2017.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15409,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2019-day-twenty-third\/","url_meta":{"origin":20416,"position":1},"title":"Sylum Advent 2019: Day Twenty-Third","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Artwork: Shifting Tides Bookcover Artist: Gil Grissom","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2019"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2019","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2019\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2019.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4722,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2015-december-18th\/","url_meta":{"origin":20416,"position":2},"title":"Sylum Advent 2015: December 18th","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Title: The Braid Author: Bj Jones Summary: His Padawan was being Knighted. Notes: In honor of the release of the new Star Wars movie - we're releasing another segment of Star Wars in the Sylum Universe. \u00a0Reminder - as in typical of all Sylum things, most of this won't follow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2015"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2015","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2015\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"banner-thin_advent2015","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/banner-thin_advent2015.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15369,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2019-day-twenty-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":20416,"position":3},"title":"Sylum Advent 2019: Day Twenty-One","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Artwork: Mates Wallpapers (Dominic Toretto & Brian O'Conner) & (Jack McPhee & Doug Witter) Artist: Gil Grissom \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2019"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2019","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2019\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2019.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20359,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2022-december-7th\/","url_meta":{"origin":20416,"position":4},"title":"Sylum Advent 2022: December 7th","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Sylum Aesthetic: Wilhelm Brandenstein Artist: Bj Jones Sylum Character: Wilhelm Brandenstein","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2022"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2022","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2022.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20363,"url":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/sylum-advent-2022-december-10th\/","url_meta":{"origin":20416,"position":5},"title":"Sylum Advent 2022: December 10th","author":"Nicolaus Meridius","date":"December 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Sylum Aesthetic: Benji Dunn Artist: Bj Jones Sylum Character Aesthetic: Benji Dunn","rel":"","context":"In "Sylum Advent: 2022"","block_context":{"text":"Sylum Advent: 2022","link":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/category\/sylum-events\/sylum-advent-2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bar-banner_advent2022.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20416\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sylumclan.com\/sylumblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}