Re: Brian and Mike
"If the shoe fits, brah." Brian smirked.
And that had to be the most boring, unappealing description of driving he had ever heard. It made him want to weep for humanity. "This from the man that was out there on the wave riders with me? How can you get that high on adrenaline -- and I saw you, man. -- and not push it in the car? You gotta get out of those nice, staid sedans more often. I'm so going to have to talk our way behind the wheel and show you what real driving is. They stock the equivalent of Lancers at the track. You and me? We are hitting that asphalt."
He shook his head with a snort. Interesting. "Way to make a man feel like a science experiment there." There was no way to explain it to guys who stood hard and fast by the rulebook. Brian knew that. He hadn't been able to explain it to himself until he threw out the rulebook and truly looked at the world. "See, I didn't say there's no right and wrong. I said there's no perfect line between good and bad. It's like the guy who steals food to feed his family because they have no money to buy any despite all his good faith efforts to find a job and seek assistance. Stealing is wrong. But, what's his choice? Watching his kids starve so he can say he's a law abiding citizen? It's why we differentiate between acts that are premeditated or not, giving leniency and acknowledging that men don't always act rationally. Just because the FBI makes a lot of empty promises, it doesn't make them honorable. And that's the truly fucked up part. There was no honor or respect or mercy from the so-called good guys. That was the criminals. The 'Brotherhood in Blue'? Didn't exist. Higher calling? A chance to be part of something? All those fun buzz words they pitch at recruitment? Had to go outside the law to find them. I wanted to find them behind the badge. But, every time I tried to see it, something else happened to prove it didn't exist. It existed with the team.
"See, out there, for us, it's simple. Live free. Respect those who earn it. Have your brother's back. Defend your family. It's not about revenge. It's about doing right by the people who matter."