Friday morning when Angel arrived at the yard he was glued to his phone. He hadn't heard from Zara the night before but that was expected. What wasn't expected was not having a text waiting for him when he woke up. Not long after he pulled in, before he even finished his first cup of coffee, Letty arrived in the pickup with Chucky. Angel didn't think much of it, he waved a little as she came toward the table, but she got his full attention immediately.

"Hey," Letty said with concern. "How's Miss Osbourne?"

"Huh?" He looked at her with a dumb expression.

"I knew it wasn't true," Letty huffed. "Rumors going around that she was like, attacked, last night outside school."

"Shit," Angel jumped to his feet. "I haven't heard from her."

"Maybe it is true," Letty said. "I heard they took her away in an ambulance and everything."

"I gotta go," Angel said quickly. "Chuck, tell Bish I'm looking for Zara."

"Will do." He spoke with more enthusiasm than was inappropriate but a lot of what Chucky said and did seemed to be inappropriate.

When Angel first left he drove by Zara's only to find her car was gone and nothing about the house hinted that she was home. He went straight to the hospital, in through the ER, but was stopped before be could sneak back.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking Zara Osbourne," he said quickly.

"Are you picking her up? We're just waiting on the signatures from the doc and she'll be released."

Already moving toward the hall he thanked the nurse dismissively and hurried to find Zara. Angel rushed down the hallway, scanning each open room for Zara, skidding to a stop when he noticed a short woman with dark hair. Zara was gathering her belongings while still in her hospital gown, a deep wound along her hairline with a few bruises marking the right side of her face.

"Hey," he said eagerly.

"Angel," she turned quickly at the sound of his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to find you," he huffed.

She groaned. "Who told you?"

"Coco's kid," Angel explained. "I went by your house but didn't see your car so I figured you were still stuck here."

"They're discharging me now," Zara said, avoiding his eyes.

Gently he pushed her hair from her face, she grimaced with embarrassment and tried to look away. His eyes focused on her face and the damage inflicted upon her. "Shit, Z, look at you, baby." Angel was furious before but seeing her, seeing the marks and the pain she was in sent him into a sorrowful rage. He enveloped her in his arms, holding her close to his chest, and rested his chin on her head. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she whimpered, trying not to cry, "I'm okay. I was just so scared."

"Why didn't you call me?" He asked, annoyed but still being sensitive.

Zara pulled away and looked up at him. "I was embarrassed," she admitted, "But also, it wasn't life or death, you know? I swear I was going to call you when I got home."

"No," he said sternly. "I wanna know, life or death or not, I wanna know." Suddenly his face twisted up, confused by her first point. "Why would you be embarrassed?"

Shrugging, she shook her head. "I don't know. I was stupid even approach them. And I'm sorry I didn't call, I have a thing with like globbing on too quickly. I've been trying to uh, ya know, not do that with you so I don't end up pushing you away."

"Glob on all ya want," he told her firmly. "This is a globbing moment."

Scrunching up her nose, Zara shook her head. "So gross. Let's not use that word anymore."

"You started it," he laughed. Noticing the bandage tape starting to peel up, Angel removed it and inspected her wound. His face turned darker as he counted the stitches. "5?"

"Yeah," she pouted.

"They check you out?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "X-ray, MRI, the works." Zara was waiting to mention the needle stick, it was terrifying and she was worried about how he'd react to the possibilities.

"So what happened?" He asked, looking at her with an angry, intense gaze. "I want to know everything you remember."

"I got jumped outside of school," she huffed. "It was a drug dealer, I think. Guess your fight lesson couldn't even keep me from panicking. All I wanted to do was run."

Angel looked at her with a stern expression. "If you woulda fought back that asshole probably woulda killed you," Angel said sadly. "You did the right thing." Stroking her cheek with his thumb he frowned. "What else do you remember?"

"There's a whole story with it," she groaned. "Let me just get my paperwork and get the fuck outta here, then we can talk."

"Okay," he sighed impatiently. "We can grab take out on the way back too. You're probably starving."

Considering the situation, Angel was more of a gentleman than ever. He turned as she grabbed her clothes, giving her some privacy, and noticed a card on the wheely table over the bed. Grabbing the thin card stock, Angel smiled a little as he read Rogan's name. At least he knew he could get all the information easily.

When they got back to Zara's she went straight to the shower, not even sitting for a moment before washing up after a night of feeling so filthy and disgusting. Angel used that time to call Franky and gather whatever information they had dug up since the attack.

"Rogan," Angel said casually.

"Angel?" He was confused and he definitely sounded it. "What's up, man?"

"Shit that went down at the high school last night, what do you guys know?"

"Why?" He asked suspiciously.

Angel smiled a little as he explained his connection to the case. "The teacher that got banged up is my girlfriend."

"Ohhh, okay," Rogan chuckled. "Guess that means you guys are taking over the case, then?"

"Exactly," Angel huffed. "What do you know?"

"We don't know shit," Rogan told him. "School's got cameras on all the exits but this one was covered. The kid that was there hadn't been in school for a few weeks, dropped out, but we can't ask him anything till he wakes up. Shit was probably laced with fentanyl. We're waiting on the official results."

This presented multiple problems. "It was heroin?" Angel asked. "At the school?"

"Yeah," Rogan sighed. "Weed and pills is one thing man, but heroin? Syringes? The district and the PD are trying to keep it quiet but if this gets out it's gonna be a mess."

"No doubt," Angel agreed. "Let me know what else you find out."

"Will do," Rogan said seconds before the line went dead.

Angel went halfway up the steps to check if the water was still running, which is was, before calling Bishop.

"Hey," Bishop answered. "Everything okay?"

"Zara's alright, some stitches and shit," Angel explained, "But I think we got a bigger problem."

"What is it?"

"Cops think the dealer that attacked her was selling fentanyl-laced heroin to students," Angel growled. "Kid that was there is in a coma now."

"Fuck," Bishop grumbled. "The shit Coco's kid said was true? It was a drug deal gone bad?"

"Yeah, it was," Angel said. "If the kids are already spreading those rumors it's only a matter of time before parents hear."

"Galindo is gonna be pissed," Bishop complained. "If someone is selling his H at a school or if it's someone pushing in he's gonna want em'."

Angel was quiet for a moment and Bishop realized something. "You wanna be the one in the yellow raincoat, don't you?"

"He hurt her, Bish. She's got a nasty gash on her head, bruised up her face," Angel explained. "He scared the shit out of her too, she's all shaky and shit. I fucking hate it. So yeah, maybe I do."

"I get it," Bishop said somberly. "He's going to wanna limit exposure. Heroin on school property is bad enough, people start talking and it looks bad."

"Can't get a wrinkle in those suits," Angel said sarcastically. "I wanna help but right now I gotta stay with her."

"Do that," Bishop told him. "We'll get what we can officially, see if we can get them spin the story for the news and parents."

"I wanna know when you get more," Angel told Bishop. "A name, a lead, anything. I just can't leave her now."

Bishop was happy that Angel had found someone he felt so strongly about. He hoped it would help ground him, even mature him slightly, but he was just glad Angel was happy.

"I get it. Stay with her. I'll update you when we get something."

The call ended and when Angel checked again, he could hear the blow dryer going. He smiled a little and sat on the couch waiting for her to join him. When she did, he was relieved to see the color had come back to her cheeks and lips but her bruises were also darker. They would only get worse before they got better, he knew that.

"Hi," she said timidly.

"Hey, come on, sit," he patted his hand on the spot beside him.

Zara took the chair diagonal Angel so she could look at him while they talked. "Actually we have to talk," she said sadly.

"That doesn't sound good," he said, his emotion showing in every line and feature of his face.

Shaking her head she already felt herself about to cry. "I approached the guy, thinking he was a lost parent trying to get in for a conference or something, like an idiot, and he hit me a few times. When I fell and hit my head but uhh I also got stuck with a used needle."

At first, his face was blank then after a few seconds, the reality hit him. "Shit," Angel hissed.

"Yeah," she forced a sad laugh. "That's what I said."

"What now?" He asked with concern.

"Luckily I'm up to date on my hepatitis shots and shit so the likelihood of me getting anything, hepatitis, HIV, all those wonderful blood-borne diseases, is pretty low. As a precaution though I have to take a bunch of pills, antivirals or retrovirals or some shit. They'll test me at 6 weeks and then 12 weeks for everything and depending on those we go from there."

"I'm sorry," he growled. "I shoulda been there."

"Angel," she chided. "It should have been one of the safest places I could be. This is not your fault and I don't need you feeling like it is or like you could have stopped it. The school and that asshole dealer are at fault."

He nodded timidly, her gentle scolding was true and it kept him from going off any further. "You're right."

"You know how, um, you and I love to have sex? It's one of-"

"Our favorite things to do," he said with a deep chuckle. "Yeah I know."

"Yeah, well, your enthusiasm makes this harder actually. We can't, or we shouldn't, until I'm done the medication and they test me."

"Oh," he said quickly, "Ohhhhhh," and once again when he realized what she was saying and why they'd have to stop, "Okay."

"Okay?" She laughed. "You don't care?"

Angel's lips turned down into a deep frown as he shrugged and shook his head. "Nah."

"12 weeks Angel."

"3 months," he added. "I can do math."

Zara laughed genuinely. "I am so proud," she joked back. "I was worried it would be too long."

"Too long, too thick," he winked, "But never too much."

"You are gross," she said slapping at his knee. "Also, thick yes but I don't know if I'd use long to describe you."

"You're lucky you're injured," he said with a wink, reaching out to take her hands, "Come here."

Taking his hands, she got up and sat on his lap, resting her head on his chest. "You're amazing," Zara told him.

He smiled at that, a sweet smile that she couldn't see, and kissed the top of her head. "Lemme get you something to eat."

"Yeah," she said excitedly. "Sorry, we didn't stop before I just wanted to shower so badly."

"It's fine, I don't blame you," he assured her. Angel was happy to have been able to call Rogan as soon as he did so the shower was a plus for him.

"I have to get my medications from the pharmacy anyway, the hospital called them in," she explained as she grabbed her purse.

"Sit, you're not coming, you need to relax and sleep."

She looked at him with doe eyes and shook her head. "No. I'm not staying. I don't want to stay, Angel."

"Hey," he said softly. "It's okay. If you wanna come that's fine."

"I do," she said eagerly. "I don't wanna be alone yet. Sorry."

Angel shook his head. "You got nothing to be sorry about. I won't leave you alone, I promise."

—

While it was rather easy to spin the story in a much less dramatic direction everything else proved to be more difficult. Pena and a few friendly detectives were able to keep the drugs out of the news but the identity of the dealer was still unknown.

"Galindo hasn't reached out," Bishop said with relief. "Pressure's off till then at least."

The pressure wasn't off Angel, although what he was feeling was self-imposed. He didn't say anything to Bishop though, he kept it to himself.

"You reach out to Dogwood? One of those guys coulda heard something. Low to the ground, supplying and shit."

"Coco and the others are working on it," Bishop told Angel. "How's she doing?"

Angel glanced back at Zara as she slept. She was freshly showered, with a full belly and had dutifully started her medication.

"She's alright," he said ruefully.

"Good," Bishop said. "You want in on this shit let me know, EZ can sit with her."

"Yeah, lemme call you back," Angel said quietly.

He had heard a car and voices growing louder which piqued his suspicions and curiosity. With his hand on his gun, Angel headed downstairs and checked the peephole to see Emily coming up the steps.

"Shit," he grumbled. Opening the door before she could knock Angel wore an awkward smile. "Hey," he uttered quietly.

"Angel," Emily smiled warmly, handing him the large flower arrangement she held in her hands. "How's Zara?"

"She's okay, she's sleeping," he explained.

Coming in behind Emily was her driver who carried in two bags of groceries. "You can leave them right there, I'll put them away. Thank you."

The driver left and Angel shut the door behind him with a dirty look on his face. "How'd you hear?"

"She text me about two hours ago," Emily explained. "Told me she was fine and that she'd call me after her nap. I figured I'd pick up some stuff for her in the meantime."

"Yeah she's passed out pretty hard," Angel said. "It's great that you came by but she asked me to stay so I don't wanna just bolt before she wakes up."

"No it's fine," she said. "I'm going to put the groceries away and do some laundry for her."

Angel smiled. "Thanks, Emily."

"Of course," Emily said. "Zara's the best, I love her, I'll do anything I can to help."

With that she hurried into the kitchen to put everything away and while she was there she filled the dishwasher. Angel just stood around awkwardly. He was uncomfortable with Emily there but he wasn't just going to leave Zara when she asked him to stay.

Emily had only been there for about a half hour when Zara texted Angel from the bedroom.

"Hey. Is someone here?"

Angel glanced over at Emily and sneakily took a picture. He sent it to Zara, deleting it from his photo immediately after, then headed up the steps to her bedroom. He knocked and she welcomed him in, still under the covers with her eyes closed.

"When did she get here?"

"I don't know, less than an hour ago, I think." Angel sat on the edge of the bed and have her calf a squeeze. "She brought flowers and some groceries, she's down there cleaning now."

Sitting up, Zara yawned and nodded. "Sounds like Em," she said with a smile. "She's too sweet."

Angel nodded, "Yeah, she is. Little weird though."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Zara agreed. It made Angel chuckle though as she didn't even know the extent the connections between them. "I should get up."

"No, you don't have to," he said sternly.

"I want to," she sighed. "I won't sleep tonight if I don't."

Angel watched as she slowly lumbered out of bed. "Hey, uh, since Emily is here, would you be good if I got out of here for a couple of hours?"

She turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing, and nodded. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I think I'm starting to know that tone," she told him. "You don't just want to shower or get changed or something, do you?"

"No, it's not that," he admitted. "I'm not even going home. I got some work I gotta do." Angel huffed, realizing how that made it sound. "Not work work, just uh, work."

"Okay uh but work is your work," she chuckled a little.

Nodding, Angel hesitated while searching for a way to make her understand he wasn't leaving for something insignificant. "Okay. I'm not leaving for work," he sighed, "I'm leaving to find who did this to you."

Zara closed her eyes. "You don't have to do that, Angel. The cops are looking for him."

"You really want Officer Rogan looking for this piece of shit?" Angel asked seriously.

Her eyes popped open. "How did you know he was there?"

"I saw his card," Angel explained, "Rogan's a good guy."

"Oh," she laughed. "I've seen enough crime dramas to know what that means."

"Yeah," Angel smirked then turned serious. "I'm not leaving for anything other than to get this piece of shit, I swear."

"I believe you," she said. "You don't have to though."

"I want to," he said earnestly. "No one touches you and gets away with it. He's gonna pay."

"Okay," Zara said calmly.

"Okay?" He asked slightly amused. "Just okay?"

"I'm surprisingly okay with it," she says simply. "He attacked me. He's selling fucking heroin to kids." Zara started to get upset as she spoke, her voice wavering and her eyes filling with tears. "So, yeah, I am okay with it if you like, break his knees or whatever."

Angel chuckled. "We're not loan sharks, we don't break knees."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "Does that make me a bad person?" Zara was hesitant to ask. "To want revenge?"

"Revenge is normal, it's fucking human nature," he said harshly. "You're not a bad person, Z. You're probably the best person I know. Raising money for that school, teaching those little assholes and I know they're assholes cause I was one of them."

"Thank you," she said with relief.

"I'll bring you a bloody tooth," he offered.

"Oh no," she said with a grimace. "I don't want that."

"Just a little test," Angel winked. "You good if I go, babe? I wasn't gonna leave but Emily is here and E is coming," Angel explained.

"EZ?" She asked with surprise.

"Yeah," Angel nodded. "He'll stay on the porch while she's here. I don't think anyone is coming for you, I don't want to scare you, but I think we'd both feel better with someone here."

"Oh my god totally," she said enthusiastically. "I keep thinking he's going to come after me again so I can't talk to the cops like in some damn crime movie."

Angel laughed a little, despite the dark topic her explanation was endearing. "This ain't a movie and no one is coming after you. Even if they were they won't get close."

"What would I do without you?"

"You don't have to worry about that right now," he assured her. "I'm gonna meet my brother outside. Let him know you're not alone."

She cringed and nodded. "Poor Ez."

"Not poor Emily?"

"Uh no," Zara laughed. "I mean, you know, she kind of came out on top after the last few years."

Angel pursed his lips as he thought about her logic and slowly began to nod, shrugging his shoulders in defeat. "Guess so."

"Guess so," she scoffed and rolled her eyes all while smirking playfully. "When do you have to go?"

"I was just waiting for you wake up," he told her.

"Don't get in trouble," she said cautiously.

Angel snickered. "You're not gonna tell me to be careful?"

"I think you can handle yourself, bad boy," Zara said firmly.

With one arched eyebrow and a playfully crooked grin, Angel leaned over and kissed her. "I'll be back."

"Kay," she said finally getting out of bed. "Tell Emily I'll be right down."

Angel hurried out of the bedroom and down the steps, up to his swagger more pronounced than usual as he shifted his mentality from a charming, caring boyfriend to dangerous, outlaw biker.

"Is she up?" Emily asked as Angel strolled into the laundry room.

"Yeah, she said she'll be down in a minute. I'm heading out," he told her.

Emily turned and looked at Angel knowingly. "You have a lead?"

"Working on one," he said vaguely. "We'll find him."

"Good," Emily said darkly. "Zara didn't deserve that."

Angel nodded. "I'm gonna take care of it."

"Be good to her," Emily advised him. "She really likes you and she's been burned enough."

"She tell you that?" He asked with a wriggle of his eyebrows.

Emily laughed. "Of course she did."

Angel felt a smile spread across his face but he was quick to hide it. "I'll be back," he told Emily. "My brother is gonna sit out front while I'm gone."

"Oh," she sighed heavily. "I have someone out in the car, we'll be fine."

"Sorry," Angel said although he wasn't sorry at all, "He's still coming. I want one of my guys here and I know Z does too."

"Of course," Emily said, remembering it wasn't about her comfort but Zara's, "I understand."

Angel nodded and, on his way out, saw Zara at the bottom of the steps. She had been spying, caught red-handed, but Angel was glad. In case she needed some reassurance, the same he got from Emily, he hoped the conversation was enough for her.

Hooking his arm around her waist, he kissed her ardently. "I'll see you tonight."

—

Angel met up with some of the others at Louie's old lady's apartment, except of course EZ, just moments before they went inside. He hurried to walk beside Bishop to get whatever updates he had. Riz, Tranq, and Taza waited in the street while Bishop, Angel, Coco, and Gilly headed up to the apartment.

"Galindo knows," Bishop told Angel. "We're getting some names from his guys, suppliers in that area. We gotta work down the food change if this doesn't work out."

"Galindo's shit is clean," Angel huffed. "Rogan said the H from last night was laced."

"One step at a time," Bishop told Angel. "We find out what Dogwood knows and then get the names."

As they spoke quietly, Coco and Gilly were knocking on the apartment door. The longer they went without an answer the stronger their knocks became.

"Louie," Angel barked. "We gotta talk."

The lock clicked and a woman who was assumed to be Louie's old lady stood nervously in the doorway.

"He ain't here," she snapped.

"Where is he?" Bishop asked with annoyance.

"I dunno," she pursed her lips. "Why don't you try that whore always sniffing around him and his boys."

Coco and Gilly groaned. No one wanted to get tangled in some domestic issues, not their own and definitely not someone else's.

"Where is he?" Angel snapped.

"The bar," she hissed. "But if he ain't, he's with that whore," she added loudly as they walked away.

"Thought you checked the bar," Bishop said to Coco.

Coco nodded. "They haven't seen him."

"Guess we're visiting the whore," Angel clicked his tongue. He turned as he phone rang and took the call a few feet away from the others.

"If we can find her," Gilly added ruefully.

"Girls like that find you," Bishop said. "I've been around long enough to know that."

"Nope," Angel interrupted them. "Rogan's got a name. Detectives are going to pick him up, we gotta beat em' there."

"Where?" Bishop asked as they all jumped into action.

"The high school," he said, hardly able to believe it. "It was the fucking principal Randy Anhalt."