For the first time in a long time, Juice managed to wake up before Angela. The sun was in his eyes because he'd forgotten to close the blinds the night before and one ray just happened to be shining directly on his face. He glanced down at Angela, who had managed to move away from him some time during the night. Though her ankle was still hooked around his, her back was to him, meaning the annoying sunbeam that had woken him up hadn't bothered her in the slightest. He wondered if she moved around a lot in her sleep. If she did, it wasn't ever enough to wake him up. He glanced at her sleeping face curiously, knowing it was a rare event for him to be able to see it since she always woke up first. His mind drifted to all those romantic movies where the couples watched each other sleep making him wonder what the big deal was. Yeah, she looked peaceful and beautiful, but she always looked beautiful to him. In fact, he'd rather see her awake, her dark eyes sparkling as she laughed than lying there with them closed.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Sighing, he tossed back the sheets and got out of bed, careful not to disturb Angela. He yawned loudly as he padded his way to the front door, grabbing his gun off the side table just in case. He glanced through the peephole not all that surprised to find Happy standing there. Setting down his gun, he unlocked the deadbolt and pulled open the door. "Sup, Hap?" he asked, standing back to let his brother in.

Happy looked him over, taking in his state of undress with a look of disapproval. Juice shrugged it off; he was in his own house, he could wear whatever he wanted. "How's she doin'?" Happy asked, clearly referring to his cousin.

"She sprained her wrist," Juice answered on a sigh. "Well, I sprained her wrist when I tackled her during the shooting."

Happy nodded. "That it?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"She's still hurt, Hap," Juice pointed out, confused about Happy's nonchalance.

He shrugged in response. "She ain't made of steel. She's gonna get hurt. Long as you protect her from gettin' killed, it don't matter to me."

Juice glanced down at his feet and sighed. Happy was taking it a lot better than he'd imagined he would. But his words made sense, better for Angela to be injured than dead. "Guess so."

"She awake?"

"Nah, not yet. I thought I'd let her sleep a little. Long night last night."

Happy's eyes narrowed suspiciously at his brother. "She decent?"

Juice blinked at him, confused by the question. "What?" he asked, at Happy's dark look, he got the message. "Oh! Uh...I don't...no... I mean yeah, we didn't...I mean we have but...not last night so...she should be..."

Happy rolled his eyes at Juice's stammering and headed down the hallway where he assumed the bedrooms were. He stopped in front of one that was open and peered in, feeling a little relieved when he saw her sleeping on the big bed fully clothed. He lifted up a booted foot and nudged her thigh. Angela groaned in response, her brow furrowing before she opened her eyes. "Hap?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes.

The corners of Happy's lips twitched with just the hint of a smile. To see her rubbing her eyes like that brought him back to when she was little, and he'd wake her up early to take her on a surprise trip somewhere far away. Back then she'd perk right up, shout his name, and throw her arms around him, not letting go until he had physically lifted her out of the bed and carried her to breakfast. "Hey kid," he greeted on a nod. "Just checkin' in."

Angela yawned as she nodded. He glanced at her wrist, holding out a hand for her to put it in. She complied, watching him carefully unbandaged her wrist to inspect the damage. She grimaced at the lovely shade of purple her wrist had turned. "Pretty, huh?"

He smirked and nodded. "It hurt?"

"Yeah," she said, wincing as he tested it. He nodded and dug into his pocket and pulled out a little baggy of white pills. She took it from him, inspecting the medicine. "Vicodin?"

"Ma's," he explained on a nod.

"You're the best, Hap," she said, beaming up at him. "Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah," he said on an eye roll. He leaned over and kissed her forehead before mussing her hair. "Take care of yourself, kid."

She nodded, watching his back as he headed out the door. She heard a hushed exchange between him and Juice before the front door closed. She dropped back down on the pillow and sighed, lifting her bad wrist to wrap it back up. "Hey you!" she called out to Juice whom she could hear padding his way down the hallway.

"Mornin', baby," he said walking in with a mug of steaming hot coffee in his hand. "I was gonna get you those," he said, nodding to the pills on the bed next to her.

"With your luck they'd be sedatives," she teased, reaching for the mug.

He pulled the mug out of her reach, scowling at her. "You ever gonna let that go?"

She giggled, sitting up and pulling her knees up to her chest. "No," she answered honestly, murmuring a thanks when he finally gave her the mug. "You in a diaper is an image I don't ever want to forget. I wish I had a picture."

"Yeah, real funny," he said throwing himself on the bed next to her, his hand rubbing over the place his brothers had stabled the sign to his chest. He picked up his phone and flipped it open, checking his text messages before dialing Chibs' number to check in.

Angela threw back two Vicodin, taking a long sip of the hazelnut coffee to get them down before setting the mug down and snuggling down into the bed on her side. She closed her eyes, drifting back off to sleep to the sound of Juice's low talking.

The feel of Juice's stubble tickling her neck as he kissed his way up her throat woke her up. She smiled, sighing contently as his hand slipped under her shirt, smoothing over the front of her stomach. "I gotta go, baby," he whispered in her ear.

She leaned back into him, turning her face and lifting her head to catch his lips with her own in a soft kiss. "Mmkay," she murmured sleepily. "I gotta call Skeet."

"You're not workin' today, Angel," he ordered, his eyes on her bandaged wrist.

"I'm fine," she assured him, reaching out her good hand to touch his face. She must've slept longer than she thought because he'd already gotten dressed into gray pants, a white t-shirt, and his cut.

Juice shook his head. "Do I gotta handcuff you to the bed?"

"Not unless you're planning to stay," she replied with a smirk. He seemed to contemplate her offer until his phone rang and he scowled. She sighed, pushing him out of bed. "Go look for Abel. I'll see you later."

"No working, Angel," he reminded her, kissing her once more before standing up from the bed.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I know," she said, reaching out to smack his ass as he walked by. He turned to look at her, eyebrows raised in surprise. She just winked at him. "Now you know how it feels."

"Goof," he shot back at her, shaking his head as he walked out of the room. He stopped when he was at the door. "No working, Angel!" he called back to her, feeling it was necessary to remind her once more.

"Bye, Juice!" she shouted back, already out of bed and getting dressed to go to work.

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

Angela called Lyla for a ride out to the funeral home since her car was still there leaving her stranded at Juice's house. She skipped out to the silver Prius that was blasting some Pop song, sliding into the passenger's seat. "Hey Ly!" she greeted, buckling herself in. "How's it goin'?"

"All right," she answered on a frown. There was obviously something else on her mind. After a minute, she asked, "Hey, you know of any abortion clinics?"

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "That's...forward."

"I need to get it taken care of, Ang. And soon."

"Right," Angela said on a breath. "I don't know of any offhand, but I'm sure Tara does being a doctor and all."

Lyla frowned. "I was hopin' I wouldn't have to go to her. We're not really...friends."

"She's pretty cool, Ly," she assured her. "I'm sure she has to deal with this kind of stuff all the time."

"Yeah. I just don't want Ope to know," the blonde said, immersed in her own thoughts.

Angela sighed. "I don't think she'd tell Ope or Jax. Doctors can't do that shit."

"Yeah, but I'd be coming to her as a friend, not as a patient."

"True. It's up to you, Ly. I'll do some research if you want."

Lyla gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Ang." She pulled up in front of the funeral home, watching as Angela unwrapped her bandage. "You're not going to tell your boss you're hurt?"

Angela shrugged, shoving the bandage into her purse. "Nah, I'm fine. I got drugs. 'sides, its just a sprain," she replied before quickly adding, "Don't tell Juice."

Lyla rolled her eyes at her friend. "My lips are sealed."

"Which ones?" she teased, laughing as Lyla flipped her off before driving away.

Careful to keep her wrist at her side, Angela slipped under the police tape to get inside the funeral home. The police paid her no mind; they'd been instructed not to interfere with business during their investigation. She headed straight for the office where she found Skeeter sitting at the desk looking over different paperwork. "Hey Angie," he greeted without looking up. "Wasn't expecting to see you today. Thought you might've gotten scared off."

She smiled as she dropped into one of the comfy chairs in front of the desk. "Couple of shots don't scare me."

"Good," he said glancing up at her with a small smile.

"We got Hale and the kid today?"

"Kid's not from Charming, so he was sent somewhere else. Hale's being autopsied as we speak and then I'll need you to go pick him up."

Angela nodded, raking a hand through her dark hair. "Open casket?"

"If it's possible," Skeeter said on a nod. "Least that's what his parents want. His brother is stopping by soon. We'll see what he wants. How's the wrist?"

"He didn't," she said, her eyes narrowing, anger slowly seeping into her blood. If Juice had stooped so low as to call her boss to tattle on her, he'd be in serious trouble.

Skeeter looked confused. "Your wrist is purple, Ang," he replied flatly. "I don't need someone to tell me there's somethin' wrong with it."

"Sorry." She glanced down at it self-consciously and frowned, her anger fading. "It's just a sprain. I got a brace upstairs."

"Can you work like that?"

"I've done it before," she replied on a shrug. "Just gotta wear a big glove on this hand."

Skeeter nodded. He knew he didn't have the skills to fix Deputy Chief Hale's injury well enough for him to have an open casket. As selfish as it was, if Angie was willing to do fix it injured, he'd let her. It was good PR for her and, also, for his funeral home. "All right, just be careful." His office phone rang and he reached for it, holding up a hand to tell her to stay seated. After a minute, he hung up the phone.

"Pick up time?" she asked as she watched him dig through his drawer for the keys to the van.

"Yep," he said, tossing them to her.

She caught them easily. "Gotta get my brace and then I'll head out."

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

Angela was heading down the hallway when she heard the squeak of sneakers against the linoleum heading her way. She grimaced, knowing exactly who it was; one of the male nurses, Darren. Before she'd met Juice, she'd gone out on one date with him, and it was awful. Darren was self-centered, rude, and a total asshole. She knew people got on Juice's case about his social skills, but he was nothing compared to Darren. Dude could not take a hint.

"Angie, baby," he called after her, falling into step beside her. "How's it goin', sexy lady?"

She cringed at the greeting before reminding herself she was on duty and could not smack him like she wanted. She plastered a smile on her face before turning towards him. "Hi Darren," she said, not stopping her trek to the morgue.

"So when you gonna let me take you out again?"

Juice walked down the hall of the hospital after his brothers, stopping when he heard her low chuckle. He looked towards the sound of it, surprised to see a nurse pinning Angela to the wall, his hands braced on either side of her head. Her whole body was tensed, hands clenched into white knuckled fists as she stared up at the man. He could hear her clearly as she was making no effort to keep her voice low, and though she was smiling, her words were sharp. "You need to take a step back, Darren," she suggested in a tone that was anything but sweet.

"C'mon baby. Give me a chance. I can take you places you've never been before."

"I highly doubt that. Now get off," she said, her words carrying a warning. She kept eye contact the whole time, knowing that to look away would make him think she was afraid of him and she definitely wasn't. "Now."

"Or what?"

Juice jumped in then, pushing the guy back before grabbing him up by the collar of his scrubs and pushing him up against the wall. "Or this," he growled at him. "You touch my girl again, and I'm gonna sink my fists into the pretty little face of yours. You hear me?"

"Ye...ye...yes!" Darren stammered out, his voice shaking with fear.

Angela swallowed hard, her blood running hot in her veins as she watched Juice "take care" of Darren. It was an overreaction, to be sure; Darren was harmless, and she could've easily handled it, but seeing Juice in full-fledged protector mood made her want to jump his bones right there in the hospital hallway.

Juice let the nurse go, tugging at the bottom of his cut as he watched Darren scuttle away. He waited a moment before turning to Angela. "You all right?"

She nodded, grabbing the front of his cut and pulling him in for a hot, passionate kiss that he felt all the way to his toes. "I'm fine," she whispered, a little breathless. "Thanks for that."

"Anytime," he said, giving her a wolfish smile as he grabbed her hips. He knew what the look in her eyes meant; he was going to get very lucky when he got home. "What are you doin' here anyway?"

Angela pointed to the black brace on her wrist. "Just picking up a brace," she lied easily, glad her little gurney was a few feet away and blended in with the hospital ones around it. "Stylish, huh?"

He studied it, playing absentmindedly with the Velcro straps. "Very."

Chibs whistled from down the hall. "Juicy-boy! Let's go!"

Angela smiled, pressing her lips to his once more but pushing him away before he could deepen it. "Go," she insisted with a sexy grin. "I'll see you later."

"Careful with that wrist, Angel," he said pecking her cheek and smacking her ass.

"Juice!" she exclaimed, fighting off a grin. He smiled at her over his shoulder as he jogged down the hall to join up with his brothers who had located the room of the shooter from the night before.

His nerves were still buzzing from the adrenaline rush that had come with the anger he'd felt when he saw that nurse's hands on her. He wasn't angry at her for what had happened. It'd been clear that the action hadn't been wanted and that, given a few more minutes, she would've taken action against him herself. Juice figured the only thing that saved the nurse from a kick to the balls was the fact she often worked at the hospital and didn't want to tarnish her reputation.

But reputation was not something he had to worry about. In fact, he'd thought she might get mad at him for making a scene at her place of work as most girls would or for handling something she could've easily handled herself. He'd never expected to see that dark, lustful, almost possessive look in her eyes that made him want to do all sorts of dirty things to her. He loved that about her. He knew she was no damsel in distress, but the fact she was turned on when he stepped in to take care of her made him feel good; like he was finally doing something right.

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

After a long day at the funeral home, Angela got into the Mazda, ready to go home and ice her incredibly sore wrist. She winced as she slipped her brace back on. She'd taken it off to be able to prepare Hale correctly, and now, she regretted it. The brace would've prevented her from moving it too much which would've made it harder to prep Hale, but she could've done it. She'd just been too lazy to strap it back on once the pain had flared up again. She hissed in pain as she tightened the Velcro straps of the brace before starting up the car and heading to Juice's place.

He wasn't home yet, and she hadn't expected him to be. She kicked over the rock with his hideaway key and let herself in. Sighing, she slipped a frozen pizza into the oven before making herself an icepack. Heading back to the bedroom, she changed into a pair of his workout shorts and one of his beaters. The little bag full of pills caught her eye and she sighed, happy to have a stronger source of relief than Tylenol. Popping two vicodin, she took a seat on one of the beanbags and undid the brace once again to put the icepack on her wrist. She flicked on the television and smiled to herself when she found The Goonies was on.

Just a few minutes later, Juice walked in, a grin on his face. "Hey baby," he greeted, going over to press a kiss to her forehead. "Somethin' smells good."

"I got a pizza in the oven," she explained, watching as he made his way over there. The oven dinged and she smiled. "You're right on time," she said, going to stand up.

"Sit. I'll get it," he instructed. "How was work?" he called from the kitchen.

Angela sighed. "I didn't go to work. Sprained wrist, remember?"

Juice chuckled, handing her a plate with one slice of pizza before sitting down next to her, his plate holding four slices. So that they fit better on the large beanbag, he grabbed her legs and moved them so they were draped over his lap. "We both know that's bullshit. Hale needed to be prepped, right?"

"Yeah," she admitted, feeling guilty as she looked down at her plate. "Injuries like Hale's are complicated. I get paid extra if I can make them look open-casket ready. I can't pass that up."

"Figured that's what you were doin' at the hospital," he said on a sigh. He wanted to be mad at her for disobeying him, wanted to yell at her like Clay would to Gemma, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He could tell by her tone she honestly needed the money. Though she hadn't told him why she was so desperate for it, he was pretty sure it had something to do with her family, and he couldn't fault her for wanting to do the job to help her family out. He would've done the same thing. "I just don't get what you need all the money for."

Angela shrugged a shoulder. "My aunt's meds are expensive. Hap and I do our best to try and cover them and the house and hospice and everything but...it's a lot. The minute we get ahead, my aunt has another doctor's appointment or a new test they need to run and then we're behind again."

Juice sighed, he knew how that went. It made him think of another time she'd gotten angry at him when he wanted her to do something and she'd had to miss work. "That's why you flipped about lockdown, huh?"

She nodded. "Pretty much," she murmured around a bite of pizza. "No work, no money, no meds. My aunt's not well as it is. If we can't pay for her meds..."

"I get it," he said softly, polishing of his last piece of pizza and setting the paper plate on the ground next to him. "And what about this guy? The one that was all over you at the hospital?"

"When I first moved to Charming, we went on one incredibly bad date," she answered honestly. "He called and I didn't call back. I thought he'd get the hint. He didn't."

Juice smirked. "I think he got it today," he said, running a callused palm up and down the smooth skin of her legs. "Let me know if he bothers you again."

She smiled at him, knowing it would never happen again. The look on Darren's face was enough to tell her that. "I can handle it myself."

"Oh, I know," he said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just thought I'd save your rep and step in for ya. Wouldn't want you getting banned from the hospital or anythin', then where would you get your coffee?"

She laughed, moving her head to the crook of his neck. He wrapped an arm around her back, turning his head to press a kiss to her forehead. "I know a place with a pretty awesome coffee maker, actually."

He grinned at her, playing with a lock of her hair idly as his eyes flitted to the TV screen. The Goonies. It was one of his favorites and the fact that out of the hundred channels he had, she'd found The Goonies and decided to leave it there told him he'd picked the right girl to keep around. "Hey Angel?" he asked after a moment.

"Mmm?" she mumbled distractedly, more focused on the movie now that the kids were navigating through the underground caves.

"What if you brought all your stuff here?"

Angela raised her eyebrow. "What?"

"You already have a lot of it here, and I have empty drawers and shit. Why don't you just bring all your stuff here that way we don't have to keep worryin' about having clothes and stuff at each other's places. You know?"

"Makes sense." Her heart started hammering in her chest as her eyes widened. She couldn't believe he was asking her to move in with him. "You sure, Juice? This is your bat cave."

He shrugged a shoulder. "The Bat Cave always looked so lonely in Batman movies. Yeah, he had Alfred and stuff but...sometimes Batman needs a Batlady."

"Batgirl," she corrected on a laugh.

"Nah, Batgirl wasn't Batman's girl; she was Robin's. You're my Batlady. And a Batlady should live in the Bat Cave with Batman."

"There was a Batwoman," Angela brought up randomly. "She was Batman's girlfriend or somethin'."

"She's a lesbian now."

"Huh. I have got to start reading those comics again," she replied pensively.

And just like that, he'd asked her to move in. It surprised him how painless it had been. She hadn't freaked out or gotten overly excited, just taken it like it was nothing new. He'd been afraid she'd flip out on him or comment on what a big step it was, but she hadn't and he was grateful for that. "You think we can steal those leather couches from your place?"

"What? You don't like the bean bags anymore?" she teased, grinning up at him.

"Nah. That couch is comfy as hell and better for cuddling."

"Aww does my little Rican like to cuddle?" she teased, poking his stomach.

His pounced on her quickly, trapping her between his arms as he loomed up over her. He dipped his head, trailing kisses over her collar bones before moving lower, his teeth scraping over her skin. He grinned as she gasped. "Big Rican," he corrected, kissing his way up her neck before capturing her lips in a kiss. "And he likes to do more than just cuddle."