Juice and Angela had been back in Charming for all of ten minutes when they heard the motorcycles pull up. Juice walked out of Evie's room after putting her to bed, he paused in the mouth of the hallway looking over at Angela who looked a little pale. "That's Jax's bike," he said softly.

"What does he want?" she asked, her eyes wide. There was a knock on the door, and they both hesitated in answering it.

"Dunno," he answered, heading to the front door. He grabbed his gun off of the side table where he'd left it when he'd stumbled in the day before and tucked it into the back of his jeans. His cut still lay on the couch, but he didn't put it on. Sucking in a deep breath, he opened the door.

Jax nodded to him in greeting, waiting for him to take a step back before walking inside like he owned the place. "We gotta talk," he told him, looking from Juice to Angela as if telling her to get out.

She stood strong; she wasn't a club member, he couldn't tell her what to do. If Juice wanted her to stay, she'd stay. Juice took a step in front of her, a sign that he didn't want her to go. She took a step closer, setting her hand on his back in show of support.

Jax frowned in disapproval but didn't push the subject. "Have a nice chat with Nero?"

Juice's brows furrowed in confusion as he slowly shook his head. "What are you talking--"

" 'cause he knows what you did to the kid's mom," he interrupted, without acknowledging Juice's answer. "That where you were all this time? Spilling our secrets to Nero while we've been scrambling to find Tara?"

"What? No! I was...we went out to the city. Took Evie to the beach. I didn't..."

"Bobby said he told you to get your dick sucked at Diosa," he cut him off again, glancing at Angela when she grimaced in response.

Juice nodded. "Yeah, but I didn't go. I came home. I wanted to be with my--"

"Then how does he know?" Jax interjected loudly, his arms thrown out to his sides. "If you weren't at Diosa, how the hell did he find out?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "I dunno. Maybe he just figured it out."

"How? How would he have figured it out? He didn't suspect anything before!" he demanded, taking a threatening step towards him. "Don't lie to me, Juice."

Angela felt sick to her stomach at the wild look in Jax's eyes. He looked like a crazy man. Losing Tara and Nero talking to him about the girl must've driven him over the edge. He was directing everything he was feeling at Juice, and it scared the shit out of her. "I told him," she threw in, trying her best to save her husband.

Juice whirled around, staring at her with wide eyes. "What?" he breathed, looking confused as hell and a little scared.

She cleared her throat, locking eyes with Jax as she scrambled for a believable lie. "Nero asked me if the kid's mom was the reason Juice was so on edge lately. I figured he already knew. I guess I just...confirmed it. I didn't know that he didn't know."

"Angel..." Juice trailed off, a knowing look in his eyes.

Jax didn't look entirely convinced as his eyes swept over her. "He must've already known then because this idiot told him."

"No, he didn't," she corrected, trying her best to sound calm, genuine. "When I asked how he knew, he said he'd guessed. That he wasn't totally sure until I confirmed it. I'm sorry, I just...thought he knew. I didn't think you'd go behind his back."

Jax's eyes darkened at that, he took another step towards her, but Juice blocked him from getting closer. "That so?" the President asked, head cocked to the side.

Angela nodded, gently pushing Juice aside. She could stand toe to toe with Jackson Teller. He wouldn't hurt her. Not without the club backing him. He needed Happy as his Sergeant and hurting her would jeopardize that. "Yeah," she answered, standing tall. " 'cause that'd be a really shitty thing to do to someone you're supposed to trust, who's supposed to trust you."

They stood in a dead lock then. His ice blue eyes locked on her dark ones. He studied her face for a moment before his lip curled into a sneer. "Bullshit. You're covering for him."

"He didn't do anything to cover for," she growled back.

Juice's hand wrapped around her arm, squeezing it a bit as a warning for her to back off. "She's right, Jax. I didn't go to Diosa. We went out to the Headlands, spent the night in Sausalito, I swear. I haven't talked to Nero in days. Honest."

Jax nodded to Angela. "That really where you were?"

"I can show you the receipt for the hotel if you want proof," she replied, gesturing to her purse that was hanging off one of the kitchen chairs. "There's sand in my car and everything."

The SAMCRO president seemed appeased by this for a moment. He gave Juice a calculating look, before nodding. "Get your cut. You and Bobby are going to sit on Tara's lawyer. See if he leads us to her."

"Why?" Juice asked, confused again. "I can just follow the guy's phone records. Find her number, trace the call..."

"Follow the damn lawyer!" Jax shouted, clearly frustrated with Juice questioning his method of finding his wife. "I need to talk to your Old Lady a minute."

Juice didn't move, though. He stood strong in front of Angela as if he were afraid Jax was going to attack her if he moved. "No. I'm not leaving you alone with my wife."

The corner of Jax's lips twitched a bit before he nodded. "Fine, brother," he said, turning away and heading to the door. "Go meet Bobby, and I'll see you later."

Angela fisted her hand in the back of Juice's t-shirt, clinging to it to keep her hands from shaking as they both stared down Jax's back while he walked away. Once they heard his bike start up and ride away, Angela sprinted for the front window. Peeking through the blinds, she felt her heart sink in her stomach; Quinn was parked on their corner. She felt Juice's hand on her lower back and wheeled around. "Let's go. Let's get out of here."

Juice looked through the blinds and saw his large brother sitting there. "We can't," he said, swallowing hard. She started to speak, but he cut her off before she could get a word out, "We can't, Angel. Running will make it look like we're guilty."

"And if we stay, he'll take you to the table," she pointed out.

He shook his head quickly. "You don't know that," he murmured, brushing a stray hair behind her ear. "We'll play it safe now. I'll help find Tara, you go to work. We'll just...go about our day like nothing's changed, okay? Get a better gauge for where Jax's head is at. End of the day, we'll decide what to do. Okay?"

She bit her lip, considering what he was saying. In her head, she was already planning on making sure their "go" bags were packed and ready so that if they had to leave, they could do so at a moment's notice. "Yeah, yeah," she caved on a nod. She didn't want to fight this issue with him. Not yet. "Okay."

Juice dipped his head, catching her lips in soft kiss. "I love you, baby," he told her, kissing her forehead. "I'll be back soon. Everything's gonna be okay, I promise. We're gonna get out of here. We're gonna be free. Gonna go to Hawaii and sit on the beach and drink Blue Hawaiians and then show Monk the volcanoes and teach her to hula."

Angela laughed as she shook her head. She didn't think it was possible. Not after she saw the hatred that had been in Jax Teller's eyes. "Juice, don't..."

"And you'll look sexy as hell in that bikini," he murmured, kissing her cheek. "And we'll eat fresh pineapple everyday," he continued, pressing a kiss to her neck, "and have sex on the beach. The drink and the real deal."

"Goof," she laughed, pushing him away, her eyes shiny with tears. It all sounded so good. Too good. A total dream she knew deep down in her heart would never happen. "Stop! You gotta go find Tara, remember?"

He nodded. "I'll see you later, baby," he said, shrugging on his cut. He kissed her once more on his way out. "Love you."

"Love you too," she replied, trying her best to give him a smile. After the door closed behind him, she sunk down on the couch, letting her head fall into her hands. She had a bad feeling about all of this.

-------------------

Angela was keenly aware of Quinn following her as she drove to the funeral home. If he was trying to be stealthy, he really sucked at it. Pulling into the parking lot, she noticed him trying to hide himself around the corner, so she rolled her eyes and waved at him. Better to have him know she saw him then have him try to hide it from her. Caught, he decided to ride the rest of the way towards her, parking right beside her as she got walked to the passenger's side to get Evie out of her carrier.

"Rain, rain, go away," she cooed to her baby girl despite the fact there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Rane Quinn's chuckle was loud behind her. "You talkin' to me, kiddo?"

Angela held Evie tight to her chest and gave the large Son a smirk. "No. Of course not," she said sarcastically. "Why are you tailing me, Quinn?"

"Not really sure. Jax just thought it was necessary," he replied on a shrug. "Gotta be a reason. Always is with you, troublemaker."

She frowned, her heart aching a bit; it was something Kozik would've said. If she hadn't been so genuinely afraid of Quinn while she was growing up, he could've easily been included in their tight little inner circle. She knew Quinn, Hap, and Kozik had all come up through the club together. The other two men had known her Uncle Chico. Hap had them both over for dinner at their moms' house a few times. They understood how important she was to Hap. She'd just kept a wide berth away from Quinn because the first time she'd met him, she'd been on the business end of his gun. "I'm not that bad," she grumbled, shaking her head at him. "Do you want to come in or are you just gonna sit outside like a weirdo?"

"Think if I came in, I'd be the weirdo," Quinn replied on a shrug. "Got no place inside there. Not 'til I'm ready to be put to rest."

She glared at him for a moment. "What is it with you guys and talking about your deaths like their imminent or something?"

Quinn shrugged a shoulder. "Death is something no man can escape."

Angela rolled her eyes, shaking her head at him. "Well, prolong it as long as possible, please," she muttered, clipping the carrier into the fancy stroller.

"I'll try, kiddo," he promised her with a wink.

She walked into the funeral home quickly, smirking when the buzzer went off, and she heard Bones scrambling to get to the front door. He stopped in the hallway that led to the stairs of his apartment, his glasses totally askew, bow tie on crookedly. "Oh. It's just you," he said breathing a sigh of relief.

Angela grinned as Rigor ran to her, waiting until she crouched down to nuzzle Evie gently before licking Angela's face. "Hi, Rigs! Hi! Did you miss me? Did you miss, Mama?" she cooed to him, stroking a hand down his back. "Were you good for Uncle Boner?"

"He was awesome, as usual. Don't know how you trained him, but he's the best dog ever," Bones gushed, rubbing a hand over Rigor's head.

She smiled as she stood, reaching out and gently straightening Bones' bowtie with her free hand. "Everything okay while I was gone?"

"Yep. Slow as molasses. Got Ken goin' around pullin' weeds right now," he said, following her into the office. "Hey, uh, that Scottish dude with the scars came around askin' for you. Saw Rigs over here and got suspicious."

"I know. I got a call," she admitted, handing Evie over to Bones when he held out his arms for her.

Bones held Evie up to his face, making silly faces at her. "Sup, niecey-weesy?" he asked, chuckling when she grabbed at his glasses.

"Niece-y weesy?" Angela repeated flatly, an amused smirk on her face as she dropped down into her desk chair and flicked on her computer. "Your Uncle Bones is crazy, Evie-doll."

He stuck his tongue out at her just as the buzzer over the front door went off meaning someone was there. "Customer time," he said softly, going to put Evie in the little bassinette they had in the office for her.

"Take her. I got a feeling I know who it is," she said, waiting until he was gone to unlock her desk drawer and grab her gun. She set it on the desk in front of her, getting out her cleaning supplies too. If it was Jax, as she suspected, she wanted to have an excuse to have it nearby.

She heard Kenny's voice from the main hall having an awkward conversation with someone who's voice she immediately recognized. She'd been right. Jax had gone against Juice's wishes and come to talk to her alone anyway. It was a sign of disrespect; one he wouldn't have stood for if the roles were reversed.

Kenny must've sensed something was off because he walked in with Jax, hovering awkwardly in the doorway as if he didn't want to leave them alone. "Hey Ang, got anything else for me to do?" he asked, his eyes cutting nervously to Jax.

"I'm okay, thanks. Why don't you go take Rigs for a walk?" she suggested with a smile. "He's following Boner and Evie around somewhere."

"Okay," he said, nodding his goodbye before heading out of the room.

Jax sat down in the chair across from her desk. If he saw the gun, he was doing his best to ignore it, a subtle sign he was using to tell her he wasn't afraid of her. She met his gaze and did her best to give him a friendly smile. "What can I do for you, Jax?" she asked politely.

"I know you were lyin' today," he stated, cutting right down to the chase. He was there for one reason and one reason only. "That bullshit about tellin' Nero. I knew it was Juice. Had to be. No other way for him to know."

"When did he have the time to do that? When he came home, high as a kite off the oxy Bobby gave him or maybe when he was balls deep inside of me in our kitchen because he couldn't wait to get me into the bedroom?" she lied, hoping the colorful description would throw off his game somewhat. He didn't look fazed though, so she continued, "Or maybe on the few hours it took us to drive to the Headlands? He didn't have time to talk to Nero!"

He shook his head slowly. "Nah. Bobby sent him to Diosa. He probably got his dick sucked there, and was high as fuck, spilling his guts out to anyone who'd listen before he came crawling back to you."

Angela's hands clenched into fists underneath her desk as anger started to bubble in her veins. "That's fucking bull shit. He was with me," she seethed, doing her best to remain calm. "Did you ask Nero?"

He shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the question. "He made it pretty clear what happened."

"Did you ask him, though?" she pressed.

"I didn't need to. I know what happened."

"Clearly, you don't," she scoffed, shaking her head at him. "Maybe you should ask him before you go making rash decisions."

Jax sat up a bit in his seat, a resentful look on his face. She'd hit a nerve. She was willing to bet she wasn't the only one who had criticized him about making bad decisions. He'd made too many of them to get away with it. "Don't need to rethink shit. Juice was on thin ice as it was. Ratted to the feds, killed a brother. He shouldn't be alive."

A chill went down her spine at that last sentence. Taking in a deep breath, she sat up in her seat too, making sure to keep her shaking hands out of view to keep the appearance of being strong. "Well then neither should you. Any of you," she pointed out calmly. "There isn't a single club member that hasn't broken one of your damn club rules 'cept maybe Hap and Quinn. Seems the only ones that have been tried are the ones you stand to make a profit from."

His eyebrows rose for a brief moment in acknowledgement of her words. He was impressed by her logic, obviously he hadn't expected that. "He's a rat."

"He's not," she shot back just as quickly as he said it. "He didn't sign shit. They let him go. Only reason he did any of that was to protect the club, to protect his family. Didn't you do something similar with Stahl? Or was that different because it ended up working in your favor?"

He sat forward now, his nostrils flaring a bit. "That was a ploy. I never did shit," he growled.

"Neither did Juice," she seethed, her own anger taking over her fear. For all the talking Juice did to the feds, he didn't sign anything and nothing ever came of it. If Roosevelt hadn't used him for leverage to get the information he wanted about Rita's murder, Jax would never have even known about it. If he himself could be free of persecution by the club because he'd made some elaborate scheme to deceive Stahl, Juice should get by because nothing became of anything he did. What Jax was doing wasn't fair. It wasn't right. "Or did I miss you guys getting caught up by the feds?"

"He got lucky that time," Jax allowed with an easy shrug. "Still doesn't change the fact he ratted. A rat's a rat, Ang."

Angela took in deep breath, fighting the anger she was feeling start to build up. "He'd do anything to get right with you, Jax," she stated, switching tactics. He was too stubborn for her to make any headway in convincing Jax that Juice wasn't a rat, so she was going to try her hand at convincing him to drop it entirely. "You know that. He's already done everything you've asked him to do without even questioning it. You told him he was forgiven. Can't you just let it go?"

"Let it go? You want me to just let him go?" he repeated on a cold laugh. "After all the shit he pulled, you--"

That's when she snapped, the anger becoming too much to reign in anymore. She was sick and tired of Jax using her husband as a pawn in his little game. Sick of all the mind games he was playing with her and her family. "He didn't do anything!" Angela interjected, her voice loud in the small room. "If you think of him as a brother, if you care about him at all, you'll ask Nero what happened! He'll tell you it wasn't Juice, you'll see! Just let it go!"

He smirked cockily, seemingly proud that he got her to break her calm façade. "I let him go and what? You guys gonna split?"

Deep breath. In and out, she schooled herself. She had to be careful with this question. She had a feeling if he knew they wanted to leave, he'd do anything in his power to stop them. "No. I just want him to live, Jax. I want him to be around to watch his daughter grow up and to just be happy."

Jax leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "You're not leaving Charming," he stated as if it were his decision to make. "Not with Juice."

The way he said it made her feel trapped. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He wasn't going to let them leave. He had all of the power in this situation. "I didn't say we were," she ground out, trying her best to keep her cool.

"Good," he said, standing up and getting ready to leave.

"What are you going to do to him, Jax?"

"Nothin'." Jax shrugged a shoulder, his blue eyes flicked to the gun and the back up to her, a smooth smile spreading across his face as if daring her to make the move. He stopped at the doorway, turning to look at her. "Yet. You stay safe, Angela."

Her stomach churned as she watched the Reaper on his back slowly disappear around the corner. She waited until she heard his bike start up before scrambling for her purse. With shaking hands, she grabbed her phone and dialed Juice's number, praying like hell he'd pick up. His personal went straight to voicemail. "Juice, baby, we need to go. Now. I've got our shit all packed up at home. We can just take the Mazda and leave. Just...meet me at home, okay? Please."

She hung up her phone and sat at the desk, nervously twisting at her ring as she thought of what to do next. Pushing away from the desk, she headed up to the apartment using the hidden stairs inside. Kenny and Bones were both laying on the floor with Evie under her little gym. Both boys were immersed in their old school Game Boy colors. They'd started a Pokemon competition to see who could beat the game the fastest. Kenny was using Red while Bones used Blue. Evie lay in between them, kicking her legs out and gurgling at the toys that hung above her.

They both stopped what they were doing when she slammed the door behind her, heading straight for the front window to peek through the blinds. Quinn was still sitting there on his motorcycle, staring out at the cemetery. "Shit," she muttered, raking a hand through her hair.

"Everything okay?" Kenny asked, sitting up. "What did Uncle Jax want?"

"Nothing," she answered, trying her best to give him a smile. "Everything's good. Great. Fantastic."

That caught Bones' attention. He sat up too, eyeing her suspiciously. "Something happened."

"Yeah," Kenny agreed on a nod. "Is Jax gonna hurt Juice?"

Angela twisted nervously at her ring, wondering the same question. "I don't...I don't know," she admitted softly. "I just...I need you two to do something for me, okay?"

Bones carefully scooped Evie off of the mat as he got to his feet. "Anything."

"Go to my house and pick up Juice's run bag. It's in our closet. Ken, it's the big one with the Reaper on it like your Dad had," she explained, a plan slowly starting to formulate in her head. "Grab that along with the wad of bills that's stowed in my cowboy boots next to the bag."

"You have cowboy boots?" Bones repeated in disbelief.

Angela cut him a hard glare. "Focus, Leonard," she ordered sternly, using his first name to emphasize how serious this was. "Put everything into the bag and bring it here. Juice will be by to pick it up."

"Okay, yeah, done," Bones said, handing Evie over to her mother. "What's all this for, Ang?"

"He's running," Kenny stated, a knowing look in his eyes. "Are you running too?"

She shook her head, gently pushing some of his hair out of his eyes. "No, kiddo. I got big bad Quinn sitting out there making sure I stay put, but Juice has to get out before he gets hurt. Will you guys help me?"

Kenny nodded slowly, giving her a sad smile before he headed for the door. Bones stopped to kiss Angela's cheek and Evie's head. "We got your back, Ang," he promised. "Always."

------------------

Juice felt the weight of the world on his shoulders as he rode away from the ice cream parlor, Jax's kiss of death still burning on his cheek. He'd been told to go find Gemma, update her on what happened, but after that little interaction with Jax, that was the last thing he wanted to do. It was instinctual for him to go home. To find Angela. They had to leave, and they had to leave now.

He rounded the corner to their house and stopped there. From his spot, he could see the bike parked at the end of the drive. Quinn's. Jax had Quinn sitting on his house, watching his family, making it impossible for them to leave together. He walked his bike backwards, out of view of the house, setting up the kickstand and digging into his saddlebag for the emergency burner he kept there.

Angela picked up on the first ring. "Angela Ortiz. How can I help you?"

There was something off about her voice, but he couldn't quite place it. "Angel?"

"Hi...Yes...I'm so sorry for your loss," she replied, staggering the words as if she were answering questions.

Quinn had to be in the room with her. This was a sign that she was pretending to talk to a client so Quinn wouldn't catch on. "Angel, we have to split. Jax is..."

"Oh I know. I met with your brother this morning."

"Shit. Baby, I don't know what--"

"If you could meet me at the funeral home in an hour or so, that would be great. We can go over arrangements then. If I'm not there, my assistant will be and he'll be more than willing to help you. Sound good?"

Juice let out a sigh of relief as he nodded. "Yeah. Sounds good. I'll see you there," he said, starting up his bike again. "Love you."

"You too, sir. See you soon," she replied courteously before the line went dead.

He closed the phone, tucking it into his cut pocket before racing off to the funeral home. He parked in the garage, closing it behind him quickly. When he turned back around, he jumped when he saw Kenny standing in the doorway. "Jesus Christ, kid. You scared the shit outta me," he breathed, putting his helmet on his handlebars.

"Sorry," Kenny said, ducking his head down. "Heard the garage open. Thought I'd check it out. Uh...Ang had us get your pack. Told us she'd meet you in the apartment."

Juice gave him a tight smile, ruffling his hair as he passed him. "Thanks, Ken."

He walked inside and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Bones was sitting at the kitchen table playing his Gameboy. "Hey," he called, focused on the screen. "Got your pack. 's on the couch."

He nodded slowly taking note of the solitary bag on the couch, the reaper patch sewn into it grinning at him. "Where's the girls' stuff?"

Bones looked up from the game with wide eyes as if he were afraid he'd forgotten something. "Ang just said to grab your pack. She didn't say..."

A sense of panic shot through him. She'd only sent them for his pack which meant she wasn't planning on going with him. After everything, she expected him to leave without her, without Evie. It wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to leave them alone in Charming. No way.

"Juice," her voice from behind him had him spinning around. She was standing there, her eyes already shining with tears, Evie's carrier on the floor by her feet.

"Angel," he breathed, crossing the room towards her. He took her face in his hands and pressed a long kiss to her lips. "Are you okay? Is everything..."

"You have to go!" she cut him off, panic in her eyes. "You have to split. Just get out of here, and we'll meet you somewhere later! Take the Mazda and go!"

Juice shook his head quickly. "I can't...the Mazda has a tracking device! Won't take them long to figure out how to use it this time!"

She pulled away from her, her brows drawn together in confusion. "My car has a tracking device?"

He'd put it in there after the whole Mel fiasco and had made sure Tig knew how to use it just in case. "I can't...I can't lose you, Angel. I can't," he stammered, his breathing hard. "I can't leave you."

She grabbed his face in her hands, tears brimming her lower lashes. "You can do this, Juice," she told him, sounding strong, confident. "Go to Hawaii. We'll meet you there, as soon as we can, I promise."

Juice felt his own tears prick his eyes as he shook his head. "No, baby. Not leaving without you."

"You have to, Juice. Please. Jax is...he's going to bring you to the table. They'll come after you, they're gonna vote Mayhem and then it'll be over. You've gotta go. You've gotta give us a chance, Juice," she pleaded, her voice tight as her hands grabbed onto his cut. "Please, please go."

"Don't make me leave you, Angel. Please," he begged, holding her face in his hands. "I love you."

"If you love me, you'll leave," she rasped, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Its not going to be for long, I swear. I'll find you. We'll be okay. We'll live happily ever after with the hula dancing and the pineapples and the volcanoes, okay?"

Juice swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay, baby."

She pulled him in, crushing her lips against his. He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth and savoring the taste of her for a brief moment, committing it to memory. "I love you," she murmured, her forehead pressed to his. "We're going to be okay."

"Yeah," he said on a sad laugh. He didn't believe her, of course. He wasn't good on his own. They'd been together for so long; he didn't know how to be without her for more than a few days. A whole week had almost killed him, he wasn't sure how well he'd do with an indefinite amount of time away from her. He took in a shaky breath, trying to keep himself together. "Yeah, okay."

"I'm going to leave..." she started, her breath hitching on the world. She was having a hard time letting him go too, it seemed. "I'm going to leave so that Quinn follows me. As soon as he's gone, you go. Get as far away as you can, Juice. I'm not kidding."

Juice nodded quickly, already hating this plan. "How are we going to find each other?"

"Call Bones or Ken. Just...keep in contact with them, okay? They...they'll make sure we find each other. The club won't suspect them. I swear it. Just...get out of Charming, out of state. Please."

"And you'll come find me? With Evie?" he asked, needing her to reassure him. She'd told him over and over that they'd be okay, but he needed to hear it again.

Angela nodded, swallowing hard. "Of course. We'll find you and we'll be a happy family away from the club. Away from everything. We'll be free."

He sniffled and nodded, wiping the tears from her face. "Okay." He connected their lips in another kiss. "I love you, Angel. So much."

"Love you too, Juice," she choked out, her bottom lip quivering. She sucked in a deep breath and forced a smile on her face.

"Don't break on me, Angel. You're going to make this harder," he pleaded softly, saying her name as many times as he could. He knew it would be awhile before he got the chance to say it again.

"That's what she said," she choked out.

He laughed feebly, connecting their lips again in a quick kiss. "I love you," he whispered, kissing her cheek, "I love you," another kiss to her temple, "I love you."

She closed her eyes, pulling him in closer to her and melting into the circle of his arms. Their bodies fused together, leaning against each other for strength, trying to take in and memorize every feeling, every scent.

"I love you," she whimpered, nuzzling her nose against his neck. She pulled away, grabbing his hand and tugging him over to Evie. She pulled her daughter out of the carrier. "Tell Daddy you love him and you'll see him soon, Evie-doll."

Juice swallowed thickly as he took Evie from his wife's arms. "Hey Monk," he cooed to her, hating the way his voice shook. "Hey beautiful. Daddy's gonna...I have to go for a little, but you guys will come to me, okay? I'll see you soon, baby girl."

Evie reached up and grabbed at his nose, smiling at him with a toothless grin. Juice's heart squeezed painfully in his chest, tears clouding his vision of her. He couldn't bear the thought of being apart from her. She was growing so fast, and he didn't want to miss any of it. He put his lips to her forehead, breathing in the soothing scent of her soft hair. "Love you so much, Evangeline. Don't forget that."

"Juice," Angela's voice was strangled when she spoke, "Don't. This isn't goodbye."

He nodded, sniffling a bit. "Feels like it," he said, shifting Evie to one arm and holding the other out to her. He kissed Evie's head again, trying to engrain the feel of his two girls in his arms into his brain.

"Ang? Uh...Uncle Quinn just walked in," Kenny said, poking his head in. "He's looking for you. Something about Tara. Bones is stalling, but he...he said its an emergency."

Angela pulled away from Juice and wiped at her eyes. "Okay. Tell him I'm in the bathroom. I'll be right there."

"Take Evie," Juice rasped, kissing his daughter one more time before placing her in the carrier.

Kenny stepped in and took the carrier, his hands shaking just a little. He looked up at Juice for a moment. "I'm going to take good care of them, Uncle Juice," he promised him.

Juice did his best to smile at him as he clapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks, Ken. You got that burner I gave you, right?" he asked, waiting for Kenny to nod before continuing, "Keep it charged and on. I'll text you. You keep me posted on my girls, okay?"

"Yeah. I can do that," he said, shifting awkwardly. "I'll make sure Jax doesn't find out where you are. He won't think to ask me anyway."

Bones clamored up the stairs and into the room, looking a little pale. "Ang, this big dude is looking for you, and he's being pretty damn insistent," he began rambling, stopping when he saw Kenny. "Oh. So you know."

The youngest Winston rolled his eyes and left the room, taking Evie with him. Angela watched him go for a moment before turning to Juice. He gave her a shaky smile. "This is it then," he rasped, feeling his eyes tear up again.

She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly again. "I hate this," she breathed, sniffling a bit.

Juice ran a hand over her soft hair, tugging softly to get her to look at him. "This isn't goodbye," he reminded her. He gave her one last, hard kiss. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too," she replied, wiping a tear off of his cheek. "Stay safe, Juice. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Yeah, baby. Real soon," he agreed despite not being sure of it himself. She hesitated a bit, but he pushed her towards the door. "Go 'fore Quinn gets suspicious."

"Okay." Angela swallowed hard as she backed towards the door, her dark eyes not leaving his until the very last second.

Once she was gone, he crumbled in a heap onto the couch, letting his head fall into his hands. He took deep breaths to control the utter anguish he was already feeling. His heart felt like it'd been ripped in half. "I can't leave them, Bones. I can't do it. I won't," he said, scrubbing his hand over his face as he looked at the younger man.

Bones nodded slowly. "There's gotta be a better way than this. Right? Splitting you guys up can't be the only way."

Juice felt a flicker of hope in his heart as he looked at Bones. He'd thought he was crazy for wanting to stay close despite the danger he'd be putting himself in, but Bones was thinking the same thing. They both couldn't be crazy. "I hope not."

He thought about it for a long second, rubbing at his eyes underneath his glasses before sighing. "I think I have a plan."