Ten days. That was how long it had been since Juice had last seen his wife. Ten days. Eight since he'd last seen his daughter. He was keeping track now, storing it into his brain as if there were a certain number of days until he saw her again. There wasn't a countdown, though. This separation was open ended as they waited for a chance to get away, and it was driving him crazy.

He turned the shower on in the guest bathroom, pulled the door closed and waited for the steam to fill up the room as he sat down on the closed toilet next to it. If he closed his eyes, he could pretend she was there with him, taking a shower while he talked to her like he always did. "I'm going to figure this out, Angel," he promised her, tilting his head back against the mirror as he looked up at the skylight above him. "We're going to get out of Charming and go to the beach. Away from all of this shit, baby. You 'n' me 'n' Eves 'n' Rigs. The rest of the kids can come meet us there later. They're old enough to figure out how."

Sighing, he ran a hand over the sides of his head, his usually smooth scalp feeling prickly under his palms. It'd been awhile since he'd last shaved. He didn't have an image to maintain any more, didn't need the tattoos to make him look tough. "I just want to get out of here," he rasped, swallowing hard. "I want us to be a family. That doesn't make me a coward. I didn't do anything wrong. I'm not...I'm not running out of fear, I'm running because I just...I want to live. I want my family. There's a difference. There's gotta be. I'm not a coward. Not any more.

"I'm stayin' here 'cause I love you, Angel. I couldn't just leave like that. What if...what if something happened to you and I was...on the fuckin' beach waiting like an asshole while you and Eves were in danger? I'd never forgive myself. And I'm safe here. You know that. It feels better for me to be closer, baby. So much better."

He closed his eyes tightly, trying to imagine her response. She'd agree with him. Might even laugh a bit at how ridiculous it had been to try to make him leave. Then she'd open the shower curtain and reach her hand out to him, inviting him in. This time, he'd step inside and just hold her. That was all he wanted. Just to hold her close, to draw strength from her like he had in the past.

"Juice?" Bones' voice called from the living room.

And the illusion was shattered. Juice opened his eyes and stood, going over to turn off the water. Angela wasn't there. She wouldn't be there for a long time. He headed out to the living room and nodded his greeting to Bones. "Sup Boner?"

"Were you...talking to someone?" he asked, his hands buried deep in his pockets.

Juice shook his head quickly hoping Bones didn't question him too much. He didn't want to admit he was starting to lose it. "No. Just...in the shower."

Bones looked him up and down like he was crazy. "Oh. Guess you dry like Aquaman fast."

He scratched at the back of his neck and smiled a bit at the comic book reference. "Somethin' like that," he muttered, before moving his head from side to side, cracking his neck just a bit. "What's up? Why you here?"

"Just checkin' in. Wanted to see if you needed food or anythin'. Ang 'n' I are making a trip over to Target," he explained on a shrug.

Juice loved going on Target runs with Angela. It was something they used to do often together as a way of escaping Charming for a bit. He'd leave his cut behind, put on a hat, and they'd wander the aisles filling their cart with more stuff than they ever intended to buy. Most of the time, she'd push the cart while he walked behind her, every so often kissing her neck when she stopped to look at something. People would glare at them, but Angela never seemed to mind. She never once pushed him away. They'd even had a quickie in one of the dressing rooms there once, without getting caught too. She'd been trying on swimming suits, and he'd gotten a little too excited about one of them. She'd laughed when he grabbed her, letting him have his way without a shred of hesitation. He loved that about her.

"Juice?" Bones' voice broke through his thoughts again.

"Yeah," he said, jerking his head up as he tried to get the image of Angela pressed up against the bright red dressing room wall out of his head. He blinked, swallowing hard as he tried to think of something, anything but her. "Yeah. Uh...let me get you a list."

"Here, just type one out on my phone. I'll lose the paper or Ang'll see your handwriting and flip out on me," he said, handing him his rather large phone.

Juice looked at the huge phone and raised his eyebrows before shaking his head, deciding it was better not to ask. He quickly made a list of the fresh fruits, veggies, and protein powder he needed before handing it back to him. "How's...how's she doing?"

Bones shook his head slowly. "Don't go there, man."

"Give me somethin', Bones. Please."

He ran a hand over his head, hesitating a bit before sighing. "She's going through the motions, y'know? She's had like four people stop by to ask about you. DA, Roosevelt, that scary Gemma lady, the dude with the scars on his face. She always tells 'em the same shit. That she doesn't know where you are...which is true, so that's good," he explained on a shrug. "She's always got a Son following her. Usually it's that big Gigantor dude, and she's nice to him, but sometimes its some random dude that she ignores. Only lets Gigantor or Bane in the house when they're on shadow duty. The others gotta wait outside."

Juice smirked at Bones' names for Quinn and Happy. He was a little proud of his Old Lady for keeping most of the club out of their house. "They still sitting on the weed shop?"

"Yeah, dude. I tried to go over and pull some cash out for you, but I chickened out. Don't think they'd give it to me anyways."

"I'll wire some shit into your account if you leave me the number. I got digital access to the weed shop cash anyway," he said on a shrug.

Bones waved away his offer. "Its all right. I got the money for it. Not exactly hurting for cash," he replied gesturing around to the mansion they were currently standing in. "Anyways, uh...that dude, Jax? He's out of prison. Ang wasn't too happy about that. Can't imagine you would be either."

He grimaced. Jax being out of county just increased the danger he and his family were in. "He stop by?"

"Nope, but I'm supposed to tell him she's busy if he does since she doesn't want to see him," he said on a shrug. "Gemma wanted her to go to some welcome home party for him at the new porn studio last night, and she wouldn't go. Blamed Evie for it. I think she's trying to stay as far away from the club as possible. Can't really blame her for it either."

Juice nodded slowly. That was good. He was glad she was staying away from the club and all the danger it brought with it; it was the smartest move for her. "Good, good. And Evie's okay?"

"Yeah. Totally fine," Bones lied, trying his best to smile. At Juice's doubtful look, he sighed. "Look, like I said before, I don't want to make this any harder on you, dude. They're safe, they're healthy, and they're...dealing. Just leave it at that."

He hung his head, sighing softly. "Yeah. You're right. I just...miss them. Can you...you think you could bring Monk by again?"

"I can try," he answered, though it was clear he didn't think it was a great idea. "Last time Ang said she could smell you on her though so...might not be the best idea."

"Fuck," he muttered, wishing his wife wasn't so damn observant. "Yeah, guess not."

Bones patted his shoulder awkwardly in what he knew was meant to be a comforting gesture. "It's going to work, Juice. You'll all be together soon. I can feel it in my bones."

Juice smirked at that, letting out a long breath. "Hope you're right."

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

Angela followed Bones around Target, deciding it was best to do his circuit instead of the one she and Juice used to do on their trips there. She made faces at Evie as they headed down the aisle of protein bars and vitamins, Juice's favorite isle. "Why are we in this aisle?" she asked. He didn't answer her, though. He was too busy looking from his phone to the large bottles of protein powders, studying their labels as if he was trying to decode them. "Uh, Boner, there something you want to tell me?"

"Yeah. I'm uh...I'm trying to bulk up. Which is the one that Juice uses? Works well for him. Guy's practically StarLord fit," he questioned, squinting at his list again.

"Uh. This black one," she said, handing it to him before grabbing the phone out of his hand. "What kind of list is this?"

Bones scrambled to get it back, but she held him off. "Just a list of healthy stuff. I need to eat better and get fit. Obviously."

Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest when she read the title of the list: Juice's stuff. "Why do you have a list of his stuff?" she asked, scrolling through it and finding each and every one of her husband's favorite snacks on there. She'd noticed Bones picking some of them out but had been too distracted by her daughter's crying to really make the connection. Now, she looked into the cart to find everything on the list laid neatly there. "Why are you buying all of this stuff?"

"I dunno. He sent it to me a long time ago. I want to be healthier so I'm gonna buy all this stuff and eat it...all and work out and stuff," he explained on a shrug.

She looked at him as if he were crazy. "Bones, I've been trying to get you to go running with me since I met you."

"Well, yeah, but like...I want to bulk up not slim down, y'know? Like Juice is all buff, so I think I could be too with a little work."

"You're going to hurt yourself," she warned him, still a little suspicious of his intentions.

Bones waved away her concern as he pushed up his glasses. "Nah, I'll be good. I've got some free weights at home and Ken said he'd show me how to lift them since they taught him how to do it right in gym class."

"Uh-huh," she said doubtfully. "And what are you going to mix that with?"

He stared at the black bottle of protein powder in his hands and blanched a bit. "Um. I'm gonna make like a...a milkshake. Maybe I'll grab one from the diner and just stir some of this stuff in," he theorized. Angela made a disgusted face, so he corrected himself. "Or I could...find some recipe online. Can't be that hard, right?"

Angela laughed, grabbing Evie's tiny foot. If he only knew how hard it was to make that shit taste good. Juice had it down to a science, but she knew it'd taken him forever to get it just right. "Your Uncle Boner's gonna make himself sick, Evie-doll. That or hurt himself. He's gonna get an owie, and I'm going to have to cover all of his clients," she cooed to her baby. Evie grinned at her, giggling a bit as she waved her arms about. Her mother smiled back at her, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. "Yes he is, Eves. Yes he is."

Her phone rang, showing an unknown number on the caller ID. Her heart rose to her throat as she quickly slid her finger across the screen to answer. "Angela Ortiz," she answered feeling slightly out of breath.

"Need your help, kid. How fast can you get to Redwoody?"

She sighed at the sound of her cousin's voice. It'd been far too long since she'd talked to him, since she'd seen him. She hated the distance between them. Not having Juice near was even harder without having Happy at her side to support her. She was starting to feel alone, untethered. A part of her longed to just be with someone who was family. Who provided her with the same strength Juice did. While Happy wasn't her first choice, he definitely would make her feel better. " 'm out shopping. Be there in fifteen."

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

Angela glanced at the dead guy laying on the plastic covered floor of the new porn studio. He looked on the younger side despite his beat up appearance. Whatever had happened to him had been brutal. There was a carving fork still sticking out of the poor man's head, some white powdery substance rubbed into his wounds. Salt, she assumed. She wondered what the guy had done to warrant such an awful death. "Jesus Christ. What the hell happened to him?" she asked, looking up at her cousin.

"Don't worry about it," Happy explained before tossing her a yellow package.

She caught it easily, staring at it for a moment before looking back at him, one eyebrow raised. "The hell am I supposed to do with this?"

"Acid bath. Tig 'n' Quinn are busy," he stated, jerking his chin towards the vat of acid. "You used to do this shit for Bachman. Figured you could stomach it."

Angela smirked, opening up the package and shaking out the bright yellow biohazard suit. She had to admit, she was kind of excited to help; it'd definitely serve to get some built up anger out. "Got an ax?"

He nodded his head towards a decently size one on the ground by his foot. "Put the suit on. This too," he ordered, tossing her a respirator with a shield.

She caught it and set it on a nearby table while she pulled on the protective suit. "Who's respirator is that?"

"Tig's," he answered. At her apprehensive look, he chuckled, "It's clean. Don't worry about it."

Angela sighed as she zipped up the suit. The respirator was for later, anyway. She didn't need it until they started using the acid. "Gloves?"

Hap tossed her two heavy duty gloves before handing her the ax. "All you, kid," he said as if he knew she needed to blow off some steam.

She weighed the heavy ax in her hand for a brief moment as she stared at the dead man on the ground. She had a feeling Jax did this but only because the fork sticking out of the back of his head was in the exact same spot a similar wound had been on Tara's. Was this man responsible for Tara's death? Maybe. His death was certainly fitting for his crime if that was the case.

Would this be Juice's fate should Jax ever find him? The dead man had clearly been tortured before meeting his end. The shallow wounds covered in salt were evidence of that. Would Jax make Juice suffer like this? Literally rub salt in his wounds? Or would he do something worse? The President fully believed Juice had betrayed him. She had no doubt if Jax ever got his hands on Juice, his death wouldn't be quick; that asshole would make him suffer. The thought made her blood boil in her veins. After everything Juice had done for Jax, for the club, he'd be treated just like some traitor. All for what? Juice had done nothing wrong! He didn't deserve this shit!

With a growl, she swung the ax down, severing the man's arm at the shoulder joint. She lifted it up again, moving a little further down, her mind still reeling. She didn't deserve to be separated from Juice like this! They deserved better than being in constant fear for their lives! For the life of their child! They should be living happily! None of this hiding away bullshit! She shouldn't have to be torn away from her husband all because of a stupid miscommunication!

She swung the ax down again, cutting off his leg at the hip joint. Her anger fueled every movement, every swing. She hated the club, hated the situation it had put her in, hated that it had taken her away from her family, and hated that it was slowly tearing her apart inside. She kept hacking away, cursing Jax Teller and the Sons of Anarchy with every swing until her arms burned and her back ached. She swung the ax up one more time only to be met with resistance on the way down. She turned around to find Hap holding it, keeping her from taking another swing right into the man's face.

Angela let it go as if it had bit her, taking a step away as she ripped off her gloves. She tossed them aside, swallowing back a sob that was trying to escape her throat. "Fuck!" she yelled, kicking at a nearby table. "Fuck this! Fuck all of this! I can't do this any more! I can't...fuck!"

Happy grabbed her wrists, stopping her little outburst, a concerned look in his eyes. "Hey, hey, relax, kid. Breathe. In, out."

Tears leaked down her face as she tried to catch her breath. He let her go, and she slowly sank down to the floor, her stomach churning. Her heart hurt as she tilted her head back against the wall staring up at her cousin. "This is so fucked up," she rasped, sniffling slightly. She wiped at her tears, grimacing when her hand came away red with blood that was not hers.

Happy squatted down in front of her, his eyes meeting hers. " 's just a dead dude. You didn't kill 'im."

She scowled at him. "No. Not him," she said gesturing to the bloodied pieces of the man she's just dismembered. That didn't bother her. It was everything else that was slowly breaking her. "I...if this is what Jax did to him. What is he going to do to Juice?"

"Not that," he said on a shrug. "Don't worry about it, kid. You're okay."

Angela shook her head, closing her eyes tightly as she pressed her lips together to keep herself from sobbing. Happy's assurance that Juice's fate would not be similar to the dead man's was not reassuring; there were a lot of other, more painful ways to die. Happy had a list of them in his journal. She knew because she'd found it when she was a teenager and went snooping through his room while he was in county. "No. I'm not," she managed to choke out. "I'm not. I'm....falling apart. A piece of me is missing, and I can't...I can't deal."

Disappointment flashed across Happy's face as he shook his head. "You're stronger than this. You were fine without him before. You don't need him."

She swallowed hard and smiled a bit as she wiped at her eyes again. She hated him for looking disappointed. How dare he? He didn't understand what it was like. He'd never been in her shoes. "You don't get it, Hap. I do need him. He...he balances me out. He's...you know that game with the blocks where you pull one and they all fall down. Juice is...he's that block, Hap. He's gone and everything's falling down."

He took off his gloves, grabbing her chin in his hands and forcing her to look at him. "He left you. He ain't worth all this bullshit. He's a fuckin' rat and a traitor 'n' you're better than that."

"He wouldn't leave me if he didn't have to," she ground out through clenched teeth as anger replaced her frustration. The club thought he'd left her on his own volition. They didn't know that she'd sent him away. That he didn't want to go. "If your stupid club didn't royally fuck him over!"

He let go of her chin, standing back up to loom over her. "You don't know shit."

She scrambled to her feet to stand toe to toe with him. "No, you don't know shit," she seethed, poking him in the chest. "Not a single fucking thing! Look at what Jax is doing! He's not...he's not thinking! He's after Juice for what? Do you even know?"

"He betrayed the club!"

"That's not true!"

"The fuck do you know?"

"A hell of a lot more than you," she insisted, glaring at him. "Jax is tryin' to cover--"

"Enough!" he shouted, cutting her off. "You don't know shit about the club, don't know shit about what that idiot did! If the Prez wants him out, then he fuckin' deserves it!"

Angela stared at him, her mouth open in complete shock. "You're an asshole," she growled, walking past him and making sure to hit him with her shoulder. He caught her wrist and pulled her back around so she was in front of him. Her dark eyes flashed with anger as she put her hands on his chest and pushed him away. "You're an asshole! I swear to God, Happy, you lay one finger on him, and that's the last you'll ever see of me and Eves! He is everything to me, and if you love me, if you love your niece even a little bit, you'd do your best to make sure your precious President keeps his dirty fuckin' hands off him!"

She stormed off, ripping off the bloody biohazard suit as she went and almost tripping as she tried to step out of it. Cursing softly, she shoved it in the nearest trash can.

"Kid!" Happy called after her, but she ignored him. "Angela Ines Ruiz!"

That stopped her in her tracks. He'd called her by her full name only twice before. Both times had been in circumstances where she was in deep shit. She turned around slowly, glaring at him. "It's Ortiz now. Don't fucking forget it."

They stared each other down for a long while after that, his jaw ticking angrily while she clenched her hands into tight fists, both of them breathing hard. Her phone went off, the Star Trek theme song filling the air. Taking in a deep breath, she looked away, grabbing her phone out of her pocket. It was a text from Bones. A silly picture of Evie and Rigor, yet another reminder of what she was fighting so hard to keep.

"You gonna finish this?" Happy's voice intruded her thoughts.

Angela took one last look of the picture before taking in a deep breath. She wasn't sure if he was talking about finishing the fight or finishing the job. The answer was the same either way. "No. I'm fuckin' done, Hap. Don't—don't ask me for shit again. Not unless you wanna hear me out," she seethed, walking out before he had the chance to respond.

Sitting in her car, she wrapped her hands around the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip. She sucked in a deep breath, reaching over to turn on the radio before pulling out of the lot witha squeal of her tires. She didn't have a destination in mind as she headed pointed her car west. She just drove as fast as she could letting the roar of the wind coming through her windows drown out her thoughts.

She ended up in front of her father's headstone. He'd been in her thoughts a lot lately as she watched Evie grow, as she felt the loneliness of missing her other half. The longer Juice was gone, the more she understood what her mother must've gone through after her dad died. It would be easy to fold in on herself, push everyone away, but she couldn't do that. She didn't want to. It was hard enough to feel alone without Juice, it'd be harder still to actual be alone.

Slowly, she sunk down into the grass, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. The words on the stone stood out to her. Husband, father, brother, son. Words that would be on Juice's headstone if he...

"Stop," she whispered to herself, cutting off her own thoughts. "Don't go there. It's going to be fine. Right, Papi? We're going to be fine. We're meant to work out, right?"

She looked up at the sky as more tears tumbled down her cheeks. A soft breeze blew through the hair, tousling her hair into her eyes. She breathed in deeply, smelling the freshly cut grass and closing her eyes for a brief moment. A sense of calm washed over her as another breeze blew by. She could feel her father's presence there as strong as if he were really sitting beside her, reassuring her that everything would be all right.

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

Happy walked into Chloe's house feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. After spending such an awful morning with Angela followed by all of the club shit with Indian Hills and deceiving Lin's crew, he was exhausted. Hades greeted him immediately, running up to him and setting his front paws on his stomach. "Hey boy," he greeted, scratching the dog behind the ears. He looked over to the couch to find Chloe sitting there with a glass of wine. He was glad he caught her on a night she was home; he needed her to help him sort out the noise in his head. Walking by the couch, he stroked a hand over her warm cheek. "Hey babe."

She raised an eyebrow at the new nickname but didn't comment. He had no idea where the endearment had come from; it had just slipped out. He needed a beer, and he needed it fast. Grabbing a beer, he popped off the top and headed back to the couch, throwing himself down next to her. Stretching out, he draped an arm across the back of the couch. With a sigh, she shifted so she was leaning against him. "Sup, dude? How'd things go with Ang?"

He grimaced as he thought about what he'd gone through with his cousin earlier that morning. "Not great."

"Not surprised. She's a bit of a mess right now."

He sighed. That was a perfect way to describe her. A total mess. Up one minute, down the next. "Never seen her like that."

Chloe sighed, frowning slightly. "She's missing her other half. It's not easy."

"She's stronger than that," he said, voicing the thought that had been bugging him the whole day. He couldn't wrap his head around the torn up mess of a woman he'd seen earlier. That was not the girl he raised. "Taught her to be that way. She don't need him."

"She is strong, but she still needs him. Its...its tough to explain. She draws her strength from others. Usually you or Juice. That's why she surrounds herself with family, people she loves, because she draws strength from that love, that...security. Its easy to be strong when you have people you love backing you, ready to pick you up when you fail. Juice is...he's the biggest source of that for her. The love they have for each other is...insanely strong. Like Romeo and Juliet."

He wrinkled his nose, hating the idea that his cousin relied on that idiot for anything. Much less that she was bound for tragedy like the Shakespearean couple Chloe had mentioned. "Fuck that. Ends like shit."

She sighed, raking a hand through her hair. "Still...when you love someone like Angela loves Juice, being separated from them...throws your whole life off kilter. Its like...like losing a piece of you. Like an arm or a leg. Its...indescribable the type of pain that comes with missing someone with every fiber of your being."

His dark eyes narrowed as he studied her face. He had a feeling she wasn't just talking about Angela and Juice. He knew she'd lost someone she loved too. "That how you felt when the pig got shot?"

"Michael," she corrected softly. "And yeah. I...I was lost for a long time. Took me awhile to come to terms with it."

"But you got over it."

She hesitated a moment, her finger slowly tracing over the rim of her wine glass in thought. "I didn't get over it. I just moved on. I still think about him all the time, and it still hurts, but I'm better now. It doesn't hurt as badly," she explained, looking up at him. "But we didn't have a kid. We didn't have the ties Angela and Juice have to each other. I think losing Juice for good will be a loss she won't come back from."

"Said if the club hurt him, I'd never see her again," he rasped.

"Is that something you could live with?"

He considered her question for a moment. Could he? Angela was his kid, his girl. She'd been the only light in his life for a long time. He couldn't lose her. He knew that. She was the only thing keeping him from becoming the psychotic killer everyone already thought he was. She was his moral compass, the girl who kept him grounded. Losing her would be losing the only good part of himself. He couldn't handle that. "No."

She tilted her head back, her hazel eyes meeting his with a warmth that he felt down to his soul. "Then you know what you have to do, Hap," she said, her fingers brushing over his cheek. "You have to make sure Juice gets out of whatever mess he's in alive. That he can get back to his family, your family."

"Ain't that easy." He sighed heavily. Chloe didn't know how hard it was for him to do that. Saving Juice would mean going against his President's orders. It would mean betraying his club, putting him in the exact same place Juice was. True, he didn't know precisely what the idiot had done--Jax had been vague about it the whole situation--but whatever it was, if the President and the VP believed he merited a Mayhem vote, it had to be bad. There was no way he could help him and keep his place in the club. And he couldn't lose the club. They were just as much a part of his family as Angela was. There had to be a way to work it all out. To get the best of both worlds. He needed some time to figure it all out. He just hoped he didn't lose Angela in the process.