Cora Unser loved everything about her job in Tacoma.

She worked as a substance abuse counselor at an outpatient clinic, mostly running group meetings and programs for recovering addicts. It didn't seem like much, but it was the job that she had dreamed of having since high school. She wanted nothing more than to help people, and she had spent a lot of hard work trying to get to that point, going through six years of college education, plus a two-year internship, and a certification course. After all the time that she had invested, it was wonderful to know that she had finally made it, and that all of her sacrifices had been worth it. She had given up her old life and traded it in for a new life. Thus far, it was proving to have been a wise decision.

On a typical workday, Cora would arrive at the clinic early in the morning, coming in to help run the first support group of the day. She always opted to come in for the earliest shift possible, which her coworkers were quite appreciative of. She even worked overtime when she could, and she rarely took off. In fact, there was one summer when her boss had to force her to take vacation for legality's sake.

After all that, she became known as the office workaholic, though she took the label as a compliment rather than an insult. Her whole life was dedicated to her job, and she liked to keep it that way. She prided herself in being a hard worker, and she didn't mind that her fixation on her work practically strangled any semblance of her social life.

On one particular morning, Cora found herself at work, as usual. She had come in early to run the first group meeting, and then led a second almost immediately after. After finishing up, she found herself on a lunch break, noon having crept in quicker than she had expected. The weather was fairly warm outside, which was rare in Tacoma, so she decided to take advantage of the opportunity and sit outside for lunch. There were a few picnic tables in the back parking lot that she could occupy.

She grabbed her lunch bag from her office and headed through the lobby. As she made her way through the room, she noticed a tall, blonde man in a black jacket standing in front of the empty secretarial desk. When he heard her footsteps, he turned and looked her way, his blue eyes meeting hers.

"Do you know where the secretary is?" he asked her in a gruff voice.

Cora looked back at him, and then back to the empty desk. "No, I'm not sure where she went," Cora admitted. "She might be on a lunch break. That's where I'm headed." She held up her lunch bag, gesturing.

The man nodded understandingly. "Oh, well, do you think you could help me then?"

Cora shrugged. She was no secretary, but she was always looking to help, especially if the task was work-related. "Sure, what do you need?"

The man shifted, as if nervous to ask. He cleared his throat. "Uh, I was wondering if there were any upcoming meetings, specifically group meetings for drug abuse."

Cora grinned at his question. "Oh, I can definitely help you with that. I run the group meetings. We have all kinds of them." Cora walked closer to him, coming to meet him at the front of the desk. He was a lot taller than he seemed from a distance. She reached over the ledge of the desk, and picked up a slip of paper, handing it to him, craning her neck to speak to him directly. "We have one tomorrow that you might like. It meets twice a week at 10 AM, no sign-ups necessary. You just sort of show up and stay for however long you want. We offer coffee and other snacks too."

He took the paper slip from her hand, examining the typed information. "Sounds good," he mused. He stuffed the paper into the pocket of his jacket before looking back at her. "I'm Herman Kozik, by the way. But you can just call me Kozik."

Cora smiled at him, extending her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Kozik. I'm Coralie Unser, but you can just me Cora."

He accepted her handshake, smiling at her as they shook hands. He had a nice smile; the sight of it made Cora's heart practically leap in her chest.

"Coralie's an interesting name. Never heard it before," he commented, stuffing his hands into his pockets, their handshake complete.

"It's from a French novel," Cora explained with a grin. "My mom was a librarian; she loved literature of all kinds."

Cora's name was something that she took pride in. It was a little odd and unheard of, but she liked that. It made her feel unique. Plus, knowing that her mom had chosen it for her always made it feel like a piece of her mom was still alive.

"So, what's your job around here?" he asked inquisitively, shifting the subject. "Are you a doctor or something?"

Cora stifled a laugh. "God no. Do you know how expensive it is to get a doctorate?"

Kozik gave a light shrug of his shoulders. "Not really. I never went to college. But I'll take your word for it."

Cora snorted at his comment. "Yeah, well you didn't miss much by not going. Some colleges are only good for leaving people buried under mountains of debt." She paused for a moment, before giving an answer to his initial question. "I may not be a doctor, but I am a certified substance abuse counselor."

"Fancy title," he remarked. He took a moment to study her further, noting the bronzy color of her skin, her glossy, black hair, her wide, sparkling brown eyes, and the nice blazer and pencil skirt that she wore. He found himself lost in thought, admiring her features. She was intriguing to him, but he couldn't quite place why.

After a few moments of silence, Cora spoke up, her voice slashing through his thoughts, bringing him back to reality. "I should probably get going. My lunch break only lasts so long, and I have an important meeting later on today, so I'd like to eat."

Kozik shook his head understandably. "Yeah, of course." He took a step back, heading towards the door. "It was nice meeting you."

"I hope to see you at the group session tomorrow," Cora said, beaming. "It's always nice to have some new faces."

He nodded. "I'll be sure to stop by."

"Good." She cast him one last smile before turning and walking off, exiting out the back door with her lunch in hand.

Kozik hung back a moment, staring at the door that she had just left through, his mind replaying the memory of her face, of every dimpled smile that she gave, of the way her eyes twinkled, and how she tilted her head to the side ever so slightly when she laughed. There was something mesmerizing about her, but he knew better than to dwell on the thought of her.

He shook his head free of thoughts and turned, pushing through the glass doors to the outpatient clinic. It was time for him to get back to his brothers at SAMTAC.

Cath Unser hated everything about her job at the diner.

Firstly, she hated having to wake up early. Somehow, she always got scheduled in the mornings. Being the night owl, and occasional night drinker, that she was, she often found herself working through lingering hangovers during her morning shifts, which was never pleasant, to say the least.

Secondly, she hated her job because of the smell. The kitchen was oily, uncleanly, and it seemed that no matter how many times she showered or washed her clothes, she could never rid herself of the diner's greasy scent.

But above all else, Cath hated having to wait on people. With her kind of luck, it came as no surprise that she was often the waitress that got assigned to the tables with the obnoxious kids and entitled adults. She was someone who had little patience for the rude and ignorant, and who liked to speak her mind, perhaps just a little bit too much. However, as a waitress, she didn't really have that kind of free range. She had to be nice, no matter how frustrating the customers were; and even despite her niceness, she was still often undertipped. It had gotten so bad to the point that she was behind on her rent. She feared that an eviction notice would appear at her door any day now.

Yet, Cath stuck with the job. Sure, it sucked ass, but it was one of few jobs in town that required almost zero qualifications. And if there was one thing that Cath was qualified at, it was having almost zero qualifications.

After a particular irking shift, Cath found herself eager to leave the diner. In just five hours, she had dealt with over a dozen families, half of which contained screaming toddlers. She had also dealt with four separate spills, three mixed-up orders, plus a jammed cash register. So, as soon as her shift was done, she jumped at the opportunity to leave and bolted out the doors.

She made a beeline for her car, an old, clunky Honda from 1991. It broke down more than it worked, but it was the best that she had. She couldn't even afford her own apartment, so she knew better than to pine after the idea of getting a new car.

She got into the Honda, and put the key in the ignition, trying to start the engine. It took a couple tries and some cursing before the car finally surged to life. Then she was off, cruising down the street, longing for her bed and the peace and quiet.

The drive from the diner to her apartment wasn't long at all, and before she knew it, she was at her apartment and parking her car. As Cath got out of her vehicle and stepped onto the sidewalk, she noticed something off about her apartment. There was a note plastered to her front door, written in bright, red lettering; it was undoubtedly her eviction notice.

"Shit," she grumbled. She made her way up her apartment steps and stood before the damned note. She hadn't expected it to come so soon. "What the hell am I going to do about this?"

Cath reached out to tear the note down but froze when she heard the sound of a car pull up and park behind her, followed by the opening and closing of its door. She peered over her shoulder ever so slightly, anxious to find out who was coming to see her, and was met with the sight of her father, Wayne Unser.

Cath immediately whipped her head back around, not wanting him to know that she had spotted him. She contemplated just entering into her apartment without saying anything to him, eager to avoid the conversation that was about to be had between them. But it was too late. Unser had already noticed her gaze, and was calling her name, making his way onto the sidewalk.

Cath turned around, dreading the conversation that was about to take place; she had a feeling that the news of her upcoming eviction was not going to sit well with her father. Cath watched as he made his way up her apartment steps, and stopped before her, casting her a small smile. "Hey, Cathleen."

"Dad," Cath greeted. A moment of silence passed over them, her father not saying anything in response. He just stared at her, shifting in place nervously, as though something were on his mind. Eventually, Cath piped up, wanting to put an end to the silence. "So…what're you doing here?"

Unser smoothed out his police uniform and fiddled with his badge. Cath noticed his lack of eye contact, which confirmed to her that he had something on his mind but was afraid to share it; he was afraid that just by looking him in the eyes, Cath would know what he was thinking.

Finally, Unser took a deep breath, and made an attempt to proceed, his voice raspy. "I…I just got some pretty bad news."

"Worse than my news?" Cath asked dryly, feeling the presence of the eviction notice behind her, practically burning a hole through her skull.

Unser cocked his head to the side, and looked past his daughter, who was blocking the note from view. His eyes locked sight with the bold, red lettering which screamed: EVICTION NOTICE. Yet, rather than ask about the note, he merely chuckled at his daughter's joke, a hint of nervousness still lingering in his voice. "Yeah, I think so."

Cath blinked, studying her father for a few moments before prompting him to keep talking. "Well, what is it?"

Unser didn't respond at first, as if still trying to piece his thoughts together, until he finally looked up at Cath and spoke. "I have cancer."

The instant the words left his mouth, Cath felt her jaw drop. Of all the news to receive, this was not what she had been expecting.

"Cancer?" She echoed his response back to him in utter disbelief.

"Yeah, bladder cancer," he confirmed. "It's stage three."

"Holy shit." Cath didn't know how to react to his news. Her father was standing before her, basically telling her that he was dying. What more could she say? Was there even an appropriate way to respond to such an announcement?

Unser's voice cut through Cath's flurrying thoughts. "Yeah, I said the same thing when the doctor's gave me my tests back," he remarked. "I went in a few weeks ago because I— " He stopped himself. "Never mind. You probably don't want to hear about the symptoms."

Cath didn't even attempt to laugh at her father's comment. The whole world felt woozy as she struggled to wrap her head around her father's news. "Are you starting treatment?" she asked, slight panic setting in.

He nodded at her question. "Yeah, the doctors are recommending it, so I might as well give it a try."

"And your job? Are you retiring?"

"What do you think?" he responded, as if the answer were obvious. "They've been trying to find an excuse to replace me for a while now. I can sense that they've been getting fed up with my cooperation with SAMCRO."

Cath's mind was flooded with thoughts of the infamous Sons of Anarchy; she was quite acquainted with them. Her father was a childhood friend of the club's matriarch, Gemma Teller Morrow; as a result, he had a bit of a soft spot for the club, making deals with them and looking the other way when necessary. Because of Unser's friendship with SAMCRO, Cath grew up alongside Gemma's son, Jax, and had become a close friend to him.

Now that she was older and legally an adult, she had also become close with many of the other members. She spent a lot of her time hanging out with them, partying, drinking, sometimes sleeping around. However, she didn't consider herself to be a croweater; she just preferred to think of herself as a good friend to the club, one who helped reinforce their connection with Unser, and ensured that he would never turn on them.

Cath snapped from her thoughts, giving a response to Unser's comment. "Of course they're fed up. Why do you think they pushed for Captain America to be your Deputy Chief?" Cath paused, a realization hitting. "Shit, he's going to replace you, isn't he?"

Unser nodded. "I have a meeting with the council about my diagnosis tomorrow; they're likely to vote in favor of his promotion."

"Does SAMCRO know he's going to be taking over?"

"Not yet," Unser replied. "I know there is going to be some pushback from them once I share the news, so I've been holding off on telling them. I'll have to put my foot down though when I do. I've cooperated with them for a long time, and Gemma has been a good friend of mine since I was a kid, but I'm old and dying. I can't keep doing this job for much longer."

"How long you got?"

Unser shrugged at Cath's question. "A few weeks. Maybe more, maybe less. I don't know at this point; it still needs sorted out."

Another question popped into Cath's head, but it was one that she was hesitant to ask. After a few moments or wrestling around with the idea, she took a deep breath, and dared to steer the conversation in a direction that she normally avoided. "Have you told Cora yet?"

Unser's eyes went wide at the mention of his other daughter, of Cath's twin. "No, I haven't."

Cath wasn't surprised by his response, yet she still rolled her eyes and scoffed anyway. "Of course."

"You know I can't tell her. Coralie's busy with her life in Tacoma. She's finally happy; she's made something of herself."

"But it's okay for me to know because I'm not successful like her, right?" Cath retorted. "Since I'm the screw-up and she's perfect, she gets to opt out of family obligations?"

Unser didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Cath knew that she was speaking the truth. Unser loved both Cath and Cora, there was no doubt about it, but he always showed a bit more leniency towards Cora. He saw so much of his late wife in her and wanted her to succeed and live her life to the fullest. He didn't want to be the one to hold her back, and so he let everything be on her terms, even if that meant that Cora lived twelve hours away and visited only twice a year.

However, Cath's feelings towards Cora were quite the opposite. Cath felt that Cora was being negligent towards her family and had allowed her life in Tacoma to distract her from what really mattered. Cath felt like her sister needed to prioritize her family more, and in Cath's mind, the best way of doing that was by moving back to Charming permanently. Yet, Cora remained adamant about staying in Tacoma, and visited Charming less and less. With every passing year, the twins grew farther apart; Cath felt like she barely knew who her sister was anymore, and that upset her immensely.

"You should at least let her know," Cath said, relaxing her tone a bit, hoping deep down that maybe her father's diagnosis might be the push to finally get Cora back home. "At least let her decide what she wants to do about this situation. Because this isn't about me or her anymore; this is about what's best for you, dad. You're the one with cancer, and she might want to come support you."

Once again, Unser was silent, as if still pondering what to do. After a few passing seconds, he finally piped up. "I'll think about it, sweetheart," he said, quietly. He turned and started to walk back down the steps to Cath's apartment, before stopping abruptly, another thought striking him. "What are you going to do about the eviction?" he asked her, head turning slightly. "You've got ten days before you have to be fully moved out, right?"

Cath nodded. "Yeah, the eviction isn't official until ten days from now. I still won't be able to pay up in time though."

"So, where are you going to stay?" Her father had turned himself fully back around, and she could see the concerned look on his face.

Cath merely shrugged, trying to act as though everything were fine. "I'll find somewhere to crash until I can save up for a new place. Maybe one of the Sons will let me stay with them. You might be trying to get out of their pocket, but I sure as hell am not."

"Why don't you just stay with me?" The offer left Unser's mouth without a second thought.

Cath had to forcibly restrain herself from laughing. "Are you kidding? I'm not living with you. I'm a grown woman; I can't live with my—"

Unser cut her off. "You need a place to stay. And it's like you said: this isn't just about you, it's about me. I'm alone, Cathleen, and I'm worried about all this cancer shit. I don't want to go through it by myself. You being in this situation just seems like a perfect coincidence."

Cath bit her lip, and her mind waged a war with itself. She hated feeling pitied and like she couldn't fend for herself, yet at the same time, she needed a place to stay, and she also knew that she couldn't just abandon her father in a time like this. She wasn't Cora. She wasn't too good for her own family and her hometown. Yes, she was a bit of a mess, but she was at least loyal to Charming and to her family.

Cath sighed, giving in. "Fine. I'll stay with you. But only until I can afford a new place."

Unser smiled at her. "Better get packing then."

Cath snorted at him as he turned and headed back down the steps. When he reached his car, he turned and waved to her. She waved back, shaking her head lightly, in disbelief of the conversation they'd just had. She watched as her father got into his police car and drove off, leaving her to her thoughts and to the stupid red eviction notice behind her.

She had better get packing indeed.

It was later in the evening, and Cora was helping close up the clinic for the night. The rest of her workday had gone by smoothly, much to her delight, but after it all, she was feeling tired.

She was in the middle of locking up the front doors when her phone rang. It was rare that she got calls from people, so she pulled her phone out eagerly, curious to see who it was from. Needless to say, it was a call from someone that she had not been expecting to hear from; this call was from an old friend, someone of the past, someone from her life before Tacoma, the life that she had traded in.

"Jax Teller?" The words escaped her lips before she could even comprehend them. Jax Teller had been her childhood friend, and to a degree, she still considered him to be a friend. Yet, it was rare that the two spoke; the only time they ever saw each other anymore was when she would visit her hometown, and those visits had become shorter and more infrequent than ever.

Cora studied the phone in her hand for a few seconds before finally deciding to answer, the curiosity eating away at her. She finished locking up the doors and quickly accepted the call, holding it up to her ear. There was a click on the other end of the line, and she heard him speak.

"Hey, Cora."

His voice sounded just as she remembered it to sound, and she felt a small smile spread across her face. "Jax," she greeted. "It's been awhile."

"Yeah, it certainly has." There was a brief pause on his end. "When was the last time you came to visit?" he finally asked.

Cora bit her lip, trying to think back to when she was last there; it took longer for her to remember than she would've liked to admit. "The last time I visited was for Christmas, so it's been about five months."

"How come I didn't see you?"

"I only stayed for two days," Cora confessed. "Something came up with work and I had to leave early before I could check in on any of you guys. I haven't really felt the need to come back since. Cath, dad, and I never have anything to talk about anyway; we all just sit in tense silence most of the time. Either that or Cath makes passive aggressive comments about me choosing to stay in Tacoma. "

Jax didn't say anything in response at first; he just took a deep breath in. Finally, he spoke again, his voice laced with doubt. "So, I take it you're not looking to come down anytime soon?"

His response puzzled Cora. "Why do you ask?"

"You know that my ex, Wendy, is expecting, right?"

Cora raised an eyebrow, confused as to where this conversation was going. "I remember someone mentioning it to me at some point, yeah."

She could hear Jax take a deep breath from the other end of the phone before proceeding. "She's a meth addict; she's been trying to stay clean, but since we split up and I told her we were done, she's started using again. I've tried talking to her about it, but she won't listen to me, and she's stopped answering my calls. So, I—"

Jax didn't even have to finish his sentence; Cora already knew what he was going to ask of her. "You want me to come to Charming to talk to her?"

He gave a quiet "yeah" from the other end.

Cora ran a hand through her hair, stressed, and unsure of how to respond. She wanted to help her friend, but at the same time, she didn't want to go back to Charming. It brought up too many painful memories for her, and often led to more trouble than good. Plus, she didn't even have a car to get down there; she had sold her car because almost everywhere she went on a regular basis was within walking distance of her apartment. Taking a bus was always an option, but bus tickets were an ungodly amount of money.

Drawing a shaky breath, Cora gave her response. "Jax, I don't think I can come down." She paused, filled with guilt. "I'm sorry."

"Just think about it, okay?" His tone seemed pleading. "Please. I could really use your help. And I promise, it won't require more than a few days of your time; nothing big will go down while you're here."

Cora sighed, her guilt getting the best of her. "Fine. I'll think about it and get back to you." She couldn't promise anything, but she would certainly consider his request.

"Thanks, Cora."

Jax hung up, and the phone went silent. Cora pulled it away from her ear and stuffed it back into the pocket of her blazer, worry coursing through her body. She had no idea what she was going to do.

Cora hated going back home to Charming. Every time she went, it just served as a reminder of all the awful things that had happened leading up to her departure. From her mother dying to her high school boyfriend breaking up with her, returning reminded her of too many painful memories. Ultimately, she had escaped to Washington to go to college, but she knew deep down that she had gone so far away because she didn't want to face the reality of her life in Charming.

When she had gone, her father, Wayne Unser, was initially ecstatic to see her leaving home; he saw so much of his late wife in Cora, and so naturally, he wanted his daughter to do well for herself. But Cora's twin, Cath, felt differently. The two had been very close throughout their childhood, so Cath didn't want to see her sister leave, yet Cora did anyway. Cora knew that Cath had taken her escape as a betrayal and wanted nothing more than to get her to return home for good, but it was something that she just couldn't bring herself to do.

Cora had a big decision to make, and she had no idea where to even start.