Angela's nerves were buzzing as she reached for the handle of the door to her workroom. She knew what was behind the door; a sight that was becoming all too familiar. Before moving to Charming, she'd never had to prepare anyone she knew. Now, it was slowly becoming a regular thing. A new friend each month. She was almost used to it now. Almost.

She stepped into the room and took a deep breath as her gaze fell on the sheet covered body lying on the table. Letting out the breath slowly, she put her iPod into its docking station and put on the same classic rock station she always listened to while she worked. Queen's "We Will Rock You" came on, and she stretched her arms in front of her, cracking her fingers as she did so. She could do this.

Sliding on her gloves with a snap, she approached the table. She took another deep breath, pulling the sheet away and letting it fall to the ground at her feet. And there was Tara, looking like a bloody mess from her autopsy. "Hey T," she murmured, feeling that familiar lump rise in her throat. She choked it back before shaking her head. "Nope. Don't do that, Ang. Stay focused."

And she did. She powered through it, going through the motions as if it wasn't her friend lying there on the table until she was finished with the task at hand. Taking a step back, Angela snapped off her gloves and wiped away the tears she hadn't realized she'd shed before going to turn down the music. She sunk down heavily on the stool Juice always sat in when he watched her work, tilting her head against the wall as she looked over at her friend. "Juice and I are trying to get out, T," she told her. "We...we have this crazy plan to go to Hawaii of all places. Can you believe that? Fuckin' Hawaii."

She wiped at her tears before sniffling. "Juice is...I made him leave, I made him run to keep him safe because Jax has it in for him for stupid reasons I'm not going to go into but...God, I hope he's safe," she said on a breath as she shook her head. "I'm tired of all this shit, T. I'm tired of having to bury friends and wondering if he's going to come home or not, if my daughter's going to have him in her life like I want him to be. Shit, looking at you, I'm wondering if I'm even going to be there for her.

I look at Ken and El, and I see Evie and Abel and Thomas's futures. These kids who's lives are destroyed by this shitty club. I don't want that for Evie. I don't want her to resent her dad and his family...because that's what the club is to Juice; they're his family. Or were, I guess. Some family they are."

Angela sighed, glancing up at the ceiling and staring at it for a moment. "I'm sorry I didn't help you when I had the chance to, T. I didn't...I understood why you were doing it, but I didn't think it was as bad as you made it seem. And I never thought it would lead to his. Never. I mean, holy shit, T, look at you. Who did this to you? Are they gonna come after the rest of us because I can't...I can't bury any more friends. I don't want to. And what if it's me that's next? Donna, Luanne, you? The Old Ladies are getting' picked off one by one. What if I'm next, T? What are my kids going to do? Ken, El, and Bones have already lost so much. I don't...I want to be there for them. They're such awesome kids. And what about my actual kid? What's she going to do? Who's going to raise her if I go? My Ma? Fantastic. She did great with me," she said sarcastically shaking her head. "Juice 'n' I, when we got hitched we...we kind of wrote a will. Nothin' fancy, but we put Chloe down for full custody. I mean, she loves Hap and my family already, so I think Eves will be good with her if it comes to that.

But it won't come to that. I won't let it. I will fight tooth and nail to get out of here. To get my kids out of here in whatever way I can. I live, I'll die, and I'll kill for my family," she said, determined. "I'm going to do it, T. We're going to get that damn happily ever after because that's what my family fucking deserves. Juice didn't do shit, I haven't done shit, we deserve to be together and away from this...this toxic town. To survive and persevere. I'm not going to give up that fucking goal. I'm going to fight for it until my last breath. Just like you, T. Just like you."

Angela stood and headed over to Tara, reaching out to touch her cold hand. "Love you, T. Say 'hi' to Koz for me," she said, squeezing her hand before heading out the door. Once it closed behind her, she let out a long breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, feeling as if some kind of weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

She walked outside and took a deep breath of fresh air. From the corner of her eye, she saw Quinn straighten up at the sight of her, ready to follow her if she moved. Slowly, she walked towards him. "You my permanent body guard?" she asked.

He shrugged a shoulder. "No one else was up for the challenge."

She smirked at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not that difficult."

"You're not," he agreed on a nod. " 's why I don't mind watchin' ya. Plus, I promised Hap and Koz I'd keep ya safe if it ever came down to it."

"Thought that was Tig's job."

Quinn nodded again. "Before shit went down, it was Tig's job in Charming, was Koz's in Tacoma, and mine anywhere else you happened to go since I was Nomad. Hap set it up so you'd always have someone if somethin' happened to him. Did it after he got outta his long stretch in county. He didn't want you to ever be alone again after your whole...Mayan phase."

"Overprotective ass," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to go visit Koz. You gonna follow me there?"

"Was gonna ask you where he was, actually. Haven't had the chance to visit him myself. Think its about time. Miss the guy," he replied honestly.

Angela gave him a warm smile; she couldn't help herself. Though he stood for everything she was trying to run from, Quinn was one of her last true ties to Kozik. One of the few men who'd known Kozik like she had. "C'mon Gigantor, I'll show you where he's at."

They walked in silence through the different headstones before Quinn cleared his throat. "Your Uncle Chico's out here, y'know. Over by JT. The first time you came to Charmin' was for his funeral. You remember that?"

"Not really," she replied, a little embarrassed. "I remember the funeral, but I never could remember where it was. When I asked Ma and my aunt where I could visit him, they said he was far away. I gave up after a while. Figured he'd be with my dad up in heaven, or whatever, so going to visit dad was kind of the same thing."

"Smart kid. Well, he's out here. Kind of blends in with the rest of the military headstones, though. Guy never saw combat, but they honored him like a veteran. That was JT's doin'," he said on a chuckle. "He was a good dude. Both of 'em were."

Angela sighed, her hand skimming over Donna's headstone as they walked by. The plot just beyond it was reserved for Tara, the one next to Tara prematurely reserved for Jax Teller as per his request. A request he'd made to Skeeter, not her. He knew better than to ask her for anything at this point in time. "They were, Koz was, Ope was, Half Sack was...all of these brothers were great men and look what happened to them. Who's next, Quinn?"

"I can't tell you that, kiddo. You can never know for sure."

She sighed again, raking a hand through her hair as they approached Kozik's stone. The flowers there had dried out already, and she made a mental note to replace them later. "Here he is," she said, touching the stone lovingly. It was the cleanest of the bunch, mostly because she made sure it stayed that way out of respect.

Silence fell upon them again as they both remembered their lost brother. After awhile, Angela cleared her throat. "Why'd you let him go?"

"Who?"

"Juice," she stated, staring at the headstone instead of Quinn. "You're not an idiot. You had to know he was at the funeral home, Jax had to have told you not to let him get away, so why..."

Quinn bowed his head for a moment. "Didn't have a reason to keep him here, Jax didn't bring it to the table, we didn't vote on it. Didn't feel right."

Angela craned her neck back to look up at him, feeling a new sense of respect for the big man. "Thank you."

" 's what Koz woulda done," he said, nodding to the tombstone.

She smiled a little at the thought of what Koz would've done if he were still alive. Instinctively, she leaned her head against Quinn's thick arm like she would've if it was Koz. "I miss him."

He let his arm fall around her shoulders. "Me too, kiddo. Me too."

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

Bones was holding Evie, her little feet on his thighs as he made her dance to the Disney music playing in the background. She was wearing little baby jeans and a Star Wars onesie, a little headband with a blue and white bow around her head. "You are the nerdiest, cutest baby in the whole world, Eves," he told her, kissing her nose and making her smile. "You're really gonna break some poor sucker's heart some day, Monk...and then your dad will break his face...and I'll be there cheering him on as loudly as possible."

The buzzer over the door rang, and he stood, laying her down in the bassinet in the corner of the office before striding towards the front. There was a woman standing there in a nice power suit. She looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't place her. "Hello. How can I help you, ma'am?" he greeted politely.

"Hello. I'm Tyne Patterson from the District Attorney's office. I need to speak with Mrs. Angela Ortiz if she's around," she requested, all business.

Bones hesitated a bit, scratching at the back of his neck. "Oh. She's...working right now."

"If you don't mind interrupting her, this is of the utmost importance."

He nodded, going back to the office to grab Evie before heading down to the workroom. Angela was already in the office, though, Evie cuddled against her chest. "Ang? There's a lady here to see you from the DA's office," he said carefully. "Want me to take Eves?"

Angela sighed, pressing her lips to Evie's temple and inhaling her soothing scent. "No. Not right now," she answered, her voice a little thick.

She was missing Juice. He knew that. Could see it in every line on her face, the bags under her eyes. She never slept well when he was gone, and he'd been gone three days already. "Okay. Should I just...show her in?"

"Don't think we have much of a choice," she muttered, messing with Evie's onesie.

Bones nodded slowly. "How'd your uh...prep go?"

Her dark eyes met his gaze and told him everything he needed to know, though she replied with a simple, "Fine."

"I'll go get the lady then," he said, ducking his head before going back to the entryway. Patterson was flipping through one of the casket catalogs. He cleared his throat to catch her attention. "Uh, Mrs. Ortiz is uh...ready for you. In her office. Want me to uh...walk you over?"

"I can find my way. Thank you, Mister..."

"Kelley," Bones filled in, pointing at himself. "Leonard Kelley."

Patterson looked him up and down before nodding. "Good to meet you, Mr. Kelley."

He nodded back to her, stuffing his hands in his pocket. "Hopefully, we won't be seeing more of each other."

"And why do you say that? Do I make you nervous, Mr. Kelley?" she shot back quickly, amusement in her dark eyes.

"No! No, I just...I said that 'cause I work in a funeral home. With dead people. I mean...just don't want you to be here for that reason," he stammered nervously. "Because you're not, right? I mean, I'd be doing a terrible job at my...job if you were."

Patterson gave him a small smile aand a pat on his arm. "Relax, Mr. Kelley. Your mortuary services are not required at this point in time. Please go about what you were doing before."

Bones backed away slowly, waiting until he was out of view before running to the hidden steps that led to his apartment. If he laid on the ground, he could hear everything that was going on in the office through a vent in his living room floor. It wasn't something he did often; he liked to give Angela as much privacy as possible, but with Juice gone, he felt like he needed the upper hand to help her out however he could.

Grabbing a pillow from the couch, he stretched out on his stomach, his ear perfectly placed by the grate. Patterson's questions were simple at first, standard for all investigations. Name, date, connection to the victim, etc. Bones found himself fighting sleep as he listened to Patterson's droning voice.

The slamming of his front door jolted him awake, and he sat up straight nodding to Ellie as she walked in. Both Winston siblings had the key to his apartment. He didn't mind much. Kenny used it as his own personal sanctuary to play video games and escape the loneliness of his stepmother's house while Ellie liked to do her homework in the usually quiet space. "Hey El," he greeted, lying back down.

"What're you doing?" she asked, putting her book bag on the floor and stretching out next to him.

Bones smiled as the scent of her citrus body lotion filled his nose. She always smelled like a freshly peeled orange, and he loved it. "Ang is talking to some fed," he said on a sigh. "Listening in to see if I can find a way to make her feel better after it."

Ellie smiled a little at him. "That's really sweet of you, Bones."

He shrugged a shoulder, his cheeks burning with a blush. "Thanks."

They listened in silence for awhile before the subject of Juice came up in the interview. Ellie let out a long sigh, her blonde bangs blowing up slightly. "I hope he's safe and far away."

"He's safe," Bones assured her with a nod. He refused to look at her, knowing that if he did, his secret would come right out.

"And far away," Ellie finished. He nodded exaggeratedly, his hand covering his mouth. "Bones."

"Yes! In a galaxy far, far away," he muttered, his words muffled by his hand.

Her hazel eyes bored into him for a minute, making his face even redder. She raised an eyebrow at him. "You know where he is, don't you?"

He grimaced; she knew him way too well. There was no way he could lie to her. No way. "No. Of course not! Why would I...I don't...if Ang doesn't know, how am I supposed to..." and then his eyes met hers and he lost his resolve. "Yeah, I know where he is."

Her eyes were the size of saucers as she stared at him. "Is he out of Charming? Far, far away?"

Bones hung his head, slowly starting to regret ever bringing Juice to his house instead of letting him leave town like he was supposed to. "Um. Not exactly. He's kind of..." he trailed off scratching at the back of his neck. "At my house."

"Here?" she asked in disbelief.

"No! No, no, he's not at this house. At my other one. In the Charming ranches. Just...chillin' there. I mean, no one goes there but me...and sometimes Ang, but that's only if I invite her, so he should be good."

"You have another house in the Charming ranches! You mean where all the rich bitches live?"

"Sssh! Keep it down, okay? I just...Juice didn't want to leave them, and I figured he wasn't going to even though he said he would so why not give him a safe place to stay instead of him trying to hole up at the local motel where they'd definitely find him, y'know? He's safer that way! They all are!" he explained all in one breath.

Her hard glare softened and a warm smile spread across her face. "You really care about them, don't you?"

Bones nodded slowly. "Ang is...family. Her, Eves, Juice, Ken, they're all family."

"And me?"

You're sixteen and beautiful, he replied in his head. Sixteen going on seventeen like that damn Sound of Music song his mom loved so long ago. He'd never spent much time around girls. They mostly ignored him. Ellie was the first to really give him the time of day, and he loved spending time with her. Looked forward to it actually. She was smart and funny. Was patient with him when he went on his ramblings and laughed at his jokes. She wasn't family, he'd decided a while back. She couldn't be. He wouldn't get butterflies when she walked into a room or smile every time he heard her name if he saw her as a sister. "I don't know what you are, El," he said softly, painfully aware of how close their faces were to each other.

Ellie's eyes darted to his lips for a brief moment before they met his gaze. She leaned in slowly so that their lips were just inches apart and then...

"What the hell are you guys doing on the floor?" Kenny's voice came from the door.

Bones pulled away quickly, trying to keep the blush he felt creeping up his neck at bay. "Ang is talking to a fed."

"Oh shit," the younger Winston replied. If he'd noticed what his best friend and his sister were about to do, he didn't say anything. "About Juice?"

Ellie nodded slowly. "I think the DA wants to treat him as a suspect since they can't find him."

"He's got an alibi, though. He was here," Bones pointed out, awkwardly moving closer to Ellie when Kenny decided to lay down next to him to listen himself.

"Yeah but there's no concrete proof of that," she pointed out. "They need proof. Always."

"I know. I made proof. I doctored our surveillance cameras to make it work within the time frame. Burned the disc and made sure Ang has it. If she hands it over, its definitive proof. No way can they get Juice for it," he explained confidently. "Plus, he would never do something like that. He's not a killer."

Ellie and Kenny exchanged long, knowing glances. If anyone knew how violent SAMCRO men could be, how violent that life was, it was them. "He wouldn't kill Tara. That's for sure," Kenny said after a beat.

"How's she been?" Ellie asked the two boys, effectively changing the subject. She'd been working too hard at the shop and weighed down with homework so she hadn't had a chance to check in.

"Shitty," Ken replied on a frown.

Bones nodded in agreement. "She doesn't sleep without Juice, and that big dude follows her everywhere. Think he even sleeps on her couch. Plus Eves is moving into that three month stage where she gets colicky sometimes and just cries and cries."

"Dude. You know way too much about babies," Kenny stated on a snort.

Ellie laughed a bit, nudging Bones' arm with her own. "Well someone has to help Ang out with Eves. I think its good he knows," she complimented sweetly, making Bones blush again.

Her brother rolled his eyes at her, flipping onto his back to stare at the ceiling. "Of course you do," he muttered. "How long do you think it'll be before she finds out Juice is here?"

"You know too?" she exclaimed in shock.

Kenny chuckled when Bones hung his head in guilt. "Bones can't keep a secret. Least of all from Ang. I give it a week."

Bones scowled at him. "Give me a little more credit. You two can be my secret keepers and just make sure I keep the secret. Like give me an ultimatum or something."

"If you tell her where Juice is, I get your original Gameboy with the completed Zelda game you got," Kenny wagered on a smirk. Bones begrudgingly shook his hand, grumbling to himself about how hard he worked on that game.

Ellie laughed in response, nudging her shoulder against his again. She was always finding ways to touch him. Either by lightly smacking him or touching his arm as they talked. She somehow managed to find a way to touch him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "You'll be fine, Bones. We won't let you spill the beans."

"Speak for yourself, I want that Gameboy," Kenny said on a chuckle. At Ellie's glare, he backtracked. "But I realize why it has to stay a secret, so I won't push it."

"Thank you, Kenneth," Ellie stated, pulling out his full name which she knew he hated.

Kenny stuck his tongue out at her just as the door from the funeral home opened up. Angela walked in with Evie in her arms. The baby girl was screaming her little lungs out, and her mother could not look prouder. "My daughter has the best timing in the whole world," Angela proclaimed as she walked in. She grabbed the pacifier out of her pocket, putting it in her own mouth to clean it before offering it to her daughter. Evie took it and immediately quieted, her little hand reaching for the necklace around Angela's neck. "And why are you all on the floor?"

Bones and Kenny looked at each other both trying to figure out an excuse while Ellie rolled her eyes. "We were listening to you," she answered honestly, wrapping her knuckle against the metal grate. "Can hear everything through here."

"Everything?" Angela asked in disbelief, looking at Bones.

"I mean, I don't listen to everything," Bones quickly filled in. "Like when you and Juice were in there—"

"Talking," she filled in quickly, her dark eyes narrowing at her apprentice. "When we were talking."

Kenny snickered. "If that's what you want to call it."

"Kenneth Piermont Winston, you're cruisin' for a bruisin'," she said, glaring at him. "And for that comment, you can change Evie's diaper."

"Fine," he muttered, trying to hide his smile. He secretly loved when Angela talked to him like that. When she chastised him as if she were his actual mother. With a grunt, he got off of the ground and took Evie from her arms. "C'mon, sis. Let's clean that gross diaper."

Angela ruffled his hair lovingly as he walked away. "Thanks, dude," she told him with a small smile. "So, how'd I do?"

Bones held up both of his hands. "I give it a ten! Ms. Winston?"

"Ten!" Ellie exclaimed with a grin. "I don't think you have to worry about Uncle Juice. He's gonna be fine."

" 'm always gonna worry about him, El. Even if he was standing right here next to me, I'd be worrying about him," Angela said, her dark eyes looking sadder than ever. "That's just how love works, kiddo."

Bones looked over at Ellie only to find that she was looking back at him. He looked away first, quickly scrambling to his feet. "Chinese food!" he blurted out as he went to his drawer of take out menus. "We should eat Chinese food and do like a...like a marathon of some sort."

Angela glanced from Ellie who was staring at Bones, to her young apprentice, one eyebrow raised as she assessed the two of them. "Sure," she said with a smirk. "Tell 'em to deliver it to my house. Hey El, why don't you go check on Ken? He's taking a little too long with that diaper."

Ellie rolled her eyes as she pushed herself up. "I got it, I got it."

Angela waited until the younger girl was out of the room before heading over to Bones, cornering him in the small kitchen, her finger in his face. "I love you, Boner, but if you hurt her, I swear to God, I will go Buffalo Bill on your ass and skin you alive. Understand?"

Bones's brow furrowed for a moment. "Did he really skin them alive in 'Silence of the Lambs'? I can't remember," he asked, scratching at his head.

"Doesn't matter!" she exclaimed, poking his chest with a finger. "You hurt her, and you will be in a world of pain. Understand, Leonard?"

"Yeah, yeah." He nodded quickly, a little afraid of his mentor. "Sure thing, Mama Bear."