Once, on this Earth - Episode 0/Part 2



There was going to be hell to pay.

“Leave ‘em, Jin.  We gotta see to Mona.” Doozy said aloud, holding him back firmly by the arm even as he continued to keep a rather level, but still murderous gaze on the team on the other side of the road.  One of the boys there looked over, and tossed him a smirk as he lifted a bottle of beer to his lips.

Personally, Jin would have preferred the bottle broken on the guy’s skull.

“Jin.  Come on.” Doozy urged him again, adding “I don’t want you beating any of ‘em up.  We ain’t gonna stoop to their level, aight?” in a much softer register.  Jin felt Doozy’s large hand clap him soundly on the shoulder, the signal for them to huddle close to the third of their team, who was currently being checked up by one of the other racers, whose day job was that of a physical therapist.

“How bad is it, Kyle?” Mona hissed between clenched teeth.  She had her head turned to one side as careful hands checked her over.  The sting in her muscles made her curl her fingers over her knee.  Her pain tolerance was good, but she preferred injuries you could see, as opposed to the ones on the inside.

“You gotta go easy on yourself, Mona-girl.  I don’t think it’s excessive, but you’re definitely going to experience some pain over the next few of the days.  You should see a doctor just in case.  I dunno how much of a concussion you might have gotten.”

“Bueno, will do.” She hissed softly, ending the conversation as she shifted her upper torso as though to work the kinks out from her joints.  “I’ll keep that in mind.  Thanks again, handsome.” It was only then that she turned her eyes up to Doozy and Jin, the latter to whom she reached out to catch by the hand.  “I’m alright.  Leash that temper.  I don’t wanna have to whip your ass for going after ‘em for me.” The soft curse in Japanese made her smile. “You kiss your momma with that mouth?”

“Not funny.” Jin muttered curtly as he came over, fingers gently massaging the base of her neck.  “Better?” He asked, concerned.  He didn’t have to say it, but his heart had fair-near stopped when Mona’s car had spun round, brakes screeching as the vehicle skidded to a stop.  He’d started to run over, to see if she was alright, caring more for her safety than their rep, but in less than three steps he’d stopped and stepped back as Mona gunned the ignition and turned on the NOS, speeding off for the win.

“No, but it’ll get there eventually, baby.” The endearment was a slow drawl, and he smiled, knowing her sass was back on track.  “And oh, trust me, when it does somebody’s gonna get it.”

If there was one thing Mona hated more than lucky breaks, it was winning with the aid of an outside agent – in this case, NOS – and a lucky break because the other team played dirty.  She breathed in and out for a bit, eyes closing so that she didn’t have to deal with the numb ache that spanned the space between her temples.  “Doctor,” she heard Doozy say, followed by “tomorrow,” as she caught the sound of numbers being punched into a phone.

When she opened her eyes, she lifted one hand to touch the one Jin still left lingering on her shoulder.  “Check Quetzal for me, will you, Jin? I don’t think I’m in the right condition to see the damage right now.” Softly she uttered a low, dangerous oath in her family’s native tongue as she considered the distinct possibility of having to deal with a scratched paintjob.

Caty, she thought, pressing fingers over one eye.  Caty can fix it.  She pinched the bridge of her nose and looked up again, a breath passing slowly between clenched teeth and slightly parted lips.

“Thanks doc,” Doozy’s flip-top phone snapped shut as he turned back to her, holding out a hand to help her up.  She hated the feeling of being unsteady on her feet, even if just a little, but she didn’t object when Doozy held her close, murmuring reassurances in her ear.  “We can go later.  Let’s just round up Caty-baby and we can drive over to Doc Bryce to have you looked over.”

“I’m fine, Dooze.  It can wait until tomorrow.” She pulled back from him, perhaps a little too abruptly, and Mona immediately regretted it when she saw the brief shadow of hurt that crossed the big man’s eyes.  Reaching up, she patted his cheek twice, palm lingering against the hint of stubble there in quiet understanding.  “I’ll be okay, daddy-yo.” She let her hand fall away, content now to see that light back in her best friend’s gaze.

Jin’s edgy tone as he muttered softly in the tongue of his father’s country caused her to turn then, lips slightly pursed.  Jin’s rare temper was on the move, and while it was flattering, the boy tended to get stupid when he wanted to pound on someone.  “Lemme bloody his lip up a bit--” He looked aside as if slapped when she chided him sharply in Spanish.  He looked younger, the way he did that first time they tied just a few years before.  “What am I ever gonna do with you, huh?” Boys will be boys, Mona.  She battled down the smile that threatened to play on her lips.  The voice in her head sounding strangely like her Abuela Roxanne.

Shoes scuffing pavement and the panicked “you gotta stop her, please, you gotta stop her” drew her back to the present and to Sam Wit-something, as the kid, out of breath, looked at the three of them with anxious eyes.


--~*~--


“Big talk, little girl.  Go home, Caty.  I bow to your art, sure.  But you ain’t got the skills to race me.”

“Big mouth, as always, but that kind of talk is cheap when you have to spin Queztal in order to get a lead.”

It had taken Mikaela Banes all of three seconds to realize that while the pint-sized Caitlin Delaney might smile and act like she was a pre-teen, the kid had the gumption no one that small had the right to.  It amazed her and scared her shitless.  Especially now that Caty had taken it upon herself to march over to the driver that had raced Mona, bristling like a kitten ready to scratch someone’s eyes out.  “Caty,” she reached out, shyly curling fingers on the little honey-haired girl’s sleeve.  “Caty, leave off. We don’t want trouble.” Not that it was much use.

“If Figueroa was even as good as she bragged—”

“—Mona doesn’t brag you sorry excuse for an amoeba—”

“—she would’ve swerved before my ride even connec—”

“—if you had any balls to begin with you wouldn’t have hit her!” Caty glared murderously now, one hand fisted as if she held an invisible knife in her petite fingers.  “Sorry excuse for racers, that’s what you are.  Give the rest of us a bad name.” Mikaela marveled at how the girl managed to maintain some sort of dignity and not look like she was ready to throw the tantrum of the century.  She looked like a kid, but apparently, this kid, you took seriously, if one were to base the severity of the situation on the growing crowd behind them both.

“Betcha can’t beat me.” Caty snorted then, sounding smug in herself as she crossed her arms and planted her feet firmly about a foot apart.  “Without cheating, that is.”

The smile was gone now from Caty’s much larger opponent.  “Big talk, little girl.  You don’t even drive.” But Caty simply threw him a grin that scoffed at height like a chipmunk might to an incredibly tall tree.  “Got my license already, dumbass.  Been practicin’ under the best too, so I know the moves.”

The laugh that rolled in response made Mikaela’s stomach churn.  It was the kind that jeered, with no room left to question the menace behind it.  After seeing what this guy did to Mona on the track, Mikaela didn’t want to know what trouble Caty might be courting.

“Come on sweetie,” she whispered, leaning over to whisper in the smaller girl’s ear.  “Let’s head back.”

“‘Kaela,” the smaller hand gave hers a gentle squeeze.  “It’s okay.  I can take these guys.  You don’t have to worry.” And then the sass was back in those light brown eyes – the mischief glinting and definitely asking for trouble.  “You’re on.  You win – no cheating – you get the money from me straight up.”

“You got cash?” Came the scoff.

“Uhhh… yeah.” Caty threw back with wide-eyed sarcasm.  “‘Cause you see, I know the meaning of saving up and moreover, I don’t blow all my cash on frou-frou in the hopes of making my car look flashy – oh wait, make that trashy.” The look of disdain that Caty threw at the older man’s car had Mikaela choking back a laugh.

“Big talk, Caty, for a munchkin.”

“At least I’m cute.  You could use a trip to the cosmetic surgeon.  Dude, your nose is like, ew.”  Mikaela did laugh out loud then, as did several others, each apparently as unable to help themselves as she was herself.  She loved the kid already, and apparently, the girl was just getting started.

“I mean,” Caty wrinkled her nose, “did a Yorkie use it as a chew-toy or something? ‘cause that’s just gross.” Schoolyard taunting tactics, Mikaela marveled.  The kid was using schoolyard taunting tactics on a man obviously far older than her, and it was working.  “Poor doggy’s probably hacking up all the gunk from there.  Whatcha do, anyway? I mean Yorkies are adorable, tiny little thi—”

“Enzo, man.  Cut the kid a break.” Doozy had scooped Caty up in his arms, one hand clapping over her mouth to keep her from saying anything more.   “Caty’s a baby.  You know that.”

“Kid challenged me, eyes wide open, big man.  She’s racing.”

“She doesn’t even own a car.” Doozy set the struggling sixteen-year-old down, and pushed her behind him as he slid into negotiations. “C’mon, man.”

“She never used to be like this.” Mikaela turned to Sam, who had appeared back at her side, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead.  She’d sent him off running when Caty had thrown down the gauntlet, more than upset at the sight of Mona’s Honda – Quetzal, according the younger girl – scratched on one side as though it had been driven by an amateur mimicking Sega Rally.

“I think the word is precocious, kid.” A voice slipped in.  Jin and Mona stood on Sam’s other side, both of them looking as inordinately pleased as Doozy looked stressed.

“Precocious doesn’t mean picking fights with people.” Sam muttered softly, wiping his forehead with the handkerchief he kept in his back-pocket – a force habit that Mikaela had realized, had dug in deep thanks to Mrs. Witwicky.  “Precocious means smart and/or talented.  Incredibly so.”

“Both of which Caty is,” Mona slipped in then, looking over at the couple, though focusing more on Sam.  “But how many precocious kids do you know ever take things lying down?”

“So you encouraged her to be like this?”

“We just let her be herself.”

“Right.”

Doozy was walking back to them now, his mouth set in a grim line as Caty jogged to catch up to his long strides, “I can do this, Doozy.  I can!”

“No.” The big man turned then, and the finality in his tone caused both Jin and Mona to stand alert.  “Jin, you okay to race Enzo?”

Warily, Jin glanced to Mona and then nodded, “sure man, but—”

“That’s not fair!”

“Caty.” Mikaela noted how Mona blinked, the older woman’s tone incredulous at the fact that the girl had just stomped her foot, acting very much like a five-year-old deprived of whatever game she’d engrossed herself in.

“But Mona – he won’t let me race!”

“Wait, what?” Jin looked up at Doozy.  “She wanted to race?” One of the big man’s brows twitched, as if in response, and Jin turned to Caty, shaking his head.  “Honey, no.  No racing for you.  You just got your license.”

“I thought that was the point of getting it.” The little girl asserted, cheeks red now as both men ganged up against her.  “What’s the point of me taking lessons from each of you if you won’t let me show my stuff?”

“Caty, chica, it isn’t that simple.” Mona chimed in, stepping close and crouching to a squat, one hand catching Caty’s.  “I know – you know – that you’re good.  But these creeps—”

“Mona,” Caty looked all but betrayed.  “I want to do this.”

“Sorry, chica.” Mona pulled back, moving to stand between the two men.  “Can’t let you.  It’s too dangerous.” The look in the older woman’s eyes was sober, if tired.  “I’m going with Doozy on this one, honey.  No.”

“You guys are unbelievable.”

Mikaela watched as Caty stalked off, sympathetic to either faction.  She understood Caty’s need to prove herself as well as that need to stand up for Mona which had started the whole thing in the first place.  She’d done the same for her father, though more in the way of denying the police the information they needed to put him away.  But she also understood the need to protect what one counted as valuable and vulnerable – she’d done that often enough with Sam, especially on their last year of high school when the jocks had taken Halloween jokes too far and she’d been left to help Sam wash off the smell of rotten eggs from his skin.  His favorite sweater hadn’t been as lucky though.

Looking over the trio standing off to the side, Mikaela couldn’t help but empathize with the would-be guardians.  Caty looked very much like a child compared to all the other faces that wandered and lingered all around, and while those closest might understand that she was obviously fairly mature for her age (once you looked past what seemed to be the cute-front), the rest of the population likely wouldn’t see, understand or know that.

She reached over to slip her hand into Sam’s, some small part of her looking for the familiar warmth of his palm against her own.  She frowned though when he slipped away, fingers sliding away from hers as he made a beeline to where a certain Camaro was parked at an angle befitting the observant.  It didn’t take her long to realize what her boyfriend was up to though, and without another thought, unmindful that Mona had just called out to her, Mikaela sprinted after him, skidding to a stop at the door, fingers curling on the rolled down window just as “Tokyo Drift” began to play from the stereo.

“You’re crazy.” She told him simply, knowing his mind in a way that only a person who’d faced down the things that they had together could only know.  “Sam, you can’t be serious—”

He slipped out then, a slightly confused look on his face.  “Can’t be serious about what?” He smoothed his shirt as he closed the door behind him, fidgety in a way that made her all the more determined to stop him.

“You can’t.” She told him simply, pulling herself to her full height.  “Sam, be serious.  You don’t know the first thing about racing.” The argument was sound.  She knew that, and knew that he would know that too.

But the grin he threw back at her made her blink.  “Where’d you get that idea?” And Mikaela simply looked at him, mute and confused as he stole a quick kiss and jogged off after Caty.