Last Stop


"I don't want to talk to you right now." AJ shook her head, standing in their bedroom where Punk had walked into.

"Well I think we gotta talk, April." Punk said.

"No, I don't wanna listen." AJ said, "In fact, I… I just want to be on my own right now. If you can just go to Thea's or… or Cassie's. Somewhere." She waved her hands.

"Oh, so you're throwing me out now?" He shook his head.

"You've pissed me off." AJ nodded, "And I want to be on my own."

"I'm not leaving you like this." Punk shook his head, "I'm sorry. Ok? Is that what you want? I'm sorry for blowing up on you. I just didn't expect you to have been walking around here for three days, knowing something like that, and forgetting to tell me."

"That's an apology." AJ shook her head, "You're being smug. Like you always are when you know you're in the wrong."

"Smug?" Punk laughed a little.

"Yes. Just like that." She pointed, "Thinking that I'm not justified in what I've done. That I don't deserve an apology. That's just a quick sorry to stop us from fighting." She shook her head, "I was trying to protect you, like I always do."

"Protect me from what, April? I was gonna find out at one point." Punk said.

"Yeah and I wanted you to have all the facts. I wanted to sit with you and be there for you whislt I told you. I wasn't gonna just come to you say oh, Phil… uh, I think maybe there's a chance Marina had a baby that might have been yours but I'm not sure, I don't know if she has kids, I don't know if it's a boy or girl, I don't know their name or if they're around here." AJ carried on as Punk folded his arms, "I wanted to give you facts."

"I could have got them myself." Punk nodded as AJ just shook her head.

"Well you can do whatever the fuck you wanna do by yourself now. I know my damn place." She spat.

"Why are you being like this? Why are you so angry?" Punk shook his head.

"Oh, you're allowed to be angry but I'm not?" AJ asked, "I'm not allowed to be angry at you saying that I'm fucked up. What the hell was that about?"

"That was… me in shock and… mad that you knew this and I didn't." Punk explained, "I didn't mean it. You know I didn't."

"Well you sounded like you meant it." AJ said.

"Well I didn't." Punk said.

"Like you didn't mean to sleep with Marina." She folded her arms as he rolled his eyes.

"Seriously? We're actually doing this?" Punk asked, "After all this time."

"I think you knew exactly what you were doing back then." AJ nodded as he looked at her, "I think you knew that I was still going to come home that night, and be there for you, and then what? You saw her and… you thought it'd be different? Needed some change in your life?" She asked.

"I can't believe you're actually saying this to me." Punk shook his head, "Like you haven't made mistakes in your life before."

"I've never made a mistake that caused you any pain." AJ said, "And if I have, name one." She waited as Punk looked across at her, "That's what I thought." She nodded.

"Oh, ok. Sorry I'm not perfect like you, April. Sorry I mess up sometimes." Punk nodded, "I just thought maybe after thirty five years, maybe you'd be over it."

"How can I be over it when that girl is out there?" AJ shook her head.

"Her… her potentially being my kid doesn't come between us, April." Punk reminded her.

"Oh, really?" AJ nodded, "So… so say you got home from prison and I had another kid which clearly wasn't yours." She said, "How would that make you feel?" She questioned as Punk looked at her.

"I… I don't know, I'd be shocked but I'd… I'd probably love the kid just like I do the girls. Because it's… it's you." He said, "And the things that make you happy, always make me happy." He nodded.

"I was really trying for you." AJ nodded to him, "I really was. And for you to scream at me like that, like this is my fault…" She shook her head angrily, "You can deal with it on your own."

"April, you don't mean that. You're just upset-"

"No, I do mean it. There I was sitting with this girl, telling her how amazing you are. How good you are." AJ shook her head.

"Can you at least tell me what she said to you. We've barely spoken about this at all." Punk sighed as AJ looked across at him.

"She didn't say much. Just about her upbringing. She was also hesitant about doing the test. She seems like a very independent girl. Done fine without a father." AJ nodded to him, "But when I left she said she would do the test." She nodded.

"W-What should I do? Do I contact her?" Punk nodded as AJ looked across at him without saying anything, "Seriously? You're not gonna talk to me about it?" He asked as AJ looked at him, "Oh, you know what, April. Fine. Be like that. I… I don't even wanna be around you when you're like this."

"Good. Then go." AJ nodded, watching as he shook his head, leaving their bedroom and heading out of the house.

She sighed to herself, sitting down on the edge of the bed and taking a deep breath with teary eyes. She felt so enraged, but deep down she cared. Of course she did. Deep down she wanted to be there for him, to help him see this through, but she couldn't control her anger. It was like it had hit a peak. Like everything had built up and exploded out.


"Jesus." Jude raised her eyebrows, walking into the hospital room where Cassie was sitting on the bed, the entire right side of her face busted up along with stitches along her eyebrow.

"Oh my God." Thea groaned.

"It feels worse than it looks, too." Cassie nodded to them both.

"How the hell did he get to you?" Jude sighed, rubbing Cassie's arm softly.

"He didn't have cuffs on. Our mistake for thinking he'd behave. He wasn't answering anything so we were gonna take a break, his lawyer wanted a break. I got up to leave the room and he just… came for me." Cassie shook her head, "He just… kept punching me." She said. She'd never felt violence like that before. She'd been in some fights as a police officer, but nothing felt as brutal as this.

"How is Theo?" Thea asked her.

"I haven't seen him yet. He was getting scans on his arm. It didn't look good." Cassie sighed, "He got out." She whispered.

"Joey?" Jude questioned as Cassie nodded.

"He attacked one of the officers outside the room and then… I don't know, he must have got past everyone." Cassie shook her head, "I'm probably gonna get fired."

"Of course you're not." Jude said, "Look at you. He brutally attacked you, and Theo. No one was expecting that to happen."

"I should have been prepared." Cassie sighed to herself.

"You were just conducting an interview, Cassie." Thea said, "It's not your fault."

"So are there people out there looking for him?" Jude asked as Cassie nodded.

"Yeah, and there's a cop care been placed outside mom and dad's house. Assuming that… he might be headed there." Cassie said, "I didn't wanna call mom or dad about this, it would just freak them out."

"Yeah your face is pretty fucked up." Thea nodded.

"I know." Cassie said.

"I think mom and dad have… other things distracting them anyway." Jude said, looking over at Thea.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Cassie chuckled a little.

"Like the fact we might have another sister out there." Thea nodded as Cassie looked at her, "Apparently Marina, that woman that dad cheated on mom with, she had a baby in that time frame. She's the same age as me?"

"You're joking, right?" Cassie looked at them both, waiting for the punch line.

"No." Jude shook her head, "We're not. Joey apparently knew and he told mom whilst he was speaking to her at the station the other day. She went and found out about it. Now her and dad are fighting because… she didn't tell him. She's already met this girl." Jude nodded.

"Oh, you guys are actually being serious with me right now?" She looked at them, "So dad has another kid?" She asked.

"Maybe." Thea said, "I think they're gonna get a DNA test done to see if it's a match." She nodded as Cassie just shook her head in shock, trying to take such information in, especially given how shook up she already was.

"That's… that's something alright." Cassie nodded, "I assume dad is handling it… well, like he normally handles things. Poorly." She said.

"Of course." Thea nodded, "But, it's not every day you get told you possibly have another child out there. Maybe we can cut him a little slack for this one." She figured.

"There's a lot going on." Cassie nodded to herself tiredly.

"Is your face sore?" Jude asked, not being able to stop looking at her sister's terribly beaten face.

"It goes from being numb and tingly to being so painful." Cassie nodded, "And I think this right eye is gonna end up closing over." She pointed.

"Chase is gonna be scared of you." Thea nodded.

"Thea." Jude scolded.

"What? He is. She looks like terminator." Thea scoffed as Cassie just groaned.

"Thanks." Cassie nodded, "I should probably go see mom and talk to her about all of this. About Joey." She said.

"Are you allowed to leave here?" Jude asked.

"Yeah." Cassie nodded, "Will you guys do me a favour, though? Will you stay here and wait for Theo, see how he is? I think he's torn his muscle completely off the bone." She sighed.

"Jesus." Thea sighed, "Yeah… yeah, we can stay. We'll see how he is. Are you sure you're fit to leave here?"

"I just gotta get some medication and speak to the doctor. I should be fine." Cassie said.


Later that night, AJ had gone to bed, developing a headache from the stressful day she'd had. For the most part she just lay in bed thinking about everything. About her husband. About this situation they found themselves in. About their argument and what she felt she was justified for saying.

All the thinking took its toll eventually and she fell fast asleep in bed. The room was quiet and she was laying on her side fast asleep.

The only thing that slightly woke her up was the feeling of hands around her waist and a body behind her back. Fighting or not, feeling her husband embrace her was never a bad feeling, sighing a little, about to turn around to face him when she noticed the hands around her waist weren't tattooed like her husband's.

She let out an extremely loud squeal, scrambling off the bed, turning to find Joey was lying in the bed, placing his hands behind his head and smiling as she felt her heart racing.

"Come back to bed." Joey patted beside him, "Sounded like you were enjoying my company." He nodded as AJ gulped.

"W-What are you doing here?" She shook her head, feeling like her legs could give way any minute, not understanding how it was possible that he was here, in her bedroom with her.