Seeing his friend so broken, somehow helped Kozik to control his own emotions. A few tears were dripping down his cheeks, but dragging Juice through this awful pain gave him a purpose, a mission, something to keep his thoughts away from this horror. Gently, he shook Juice's shoulder. After Lotte had died, Juice had clung to her body for hours, so he doubted Juice would let go of Dana without a little encouragement.

More people were waiting. Family members, he assumed. People she hadn't talked to in years. People around who she had grown up, who had gone to school with her. None of them had really known her – none of them knew that Juice was her fiance, nor did they know what horrible things had happened to her the past two years.

Kozik's grasp around the man's shoulder became a little more compelling. "Come on kid."

He shook his head. "No. No I don't wanna leave her. I don't want to. I wanna stay with her."

The despair that coloring his voice, made Kozik's heart squeeze.

"She's gone," he said quietly. "She found her peace. She's with Tabitha now. She's holding your little girl in her arms."

Juice wiped his cheek with his shoulder, although it didn't stop a single tear. "I need to... I need go to them too. They're waiting for me, they..." He took a deep breath. Fluid glistened underneath his nose.

"Not yet. You have to tell everyone how amazing she was, you have to make sure nobody will forget about her, so that she will never truly die. You have to keep the memory of her alive." He squeezed his shoulder once more. "It's only you and me, brother. Sack doesn't remember her and Hap can't even say his goodbyes to her."

Juice pursed his lips. Once more he caressed her face, burying his hand in her blonde hair and pressing his forehead against hers. After kissing her lips, he stood straight. "Goodbye my love," he whispered. "Give Tabitha a squeezing hug from me. I love you both."

Wobbly, he turned around and shuffled away. Kozik saw that Bobby was waiting for him at the corner, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

Kozik gave himself a minute. In silence he looked at the girl he had sworn to protect. His true feelings for her had always been a mystery, but the thought that he would never hear her laughter again, that he would never hear her joyful voice again, cut through his heart like a knife.

Before the grief would paralyze him, he laid a kiss on her forehead. "Farewell sweetheart. The world lost a little of its beauty today."

After these words he took a deep breath and turned around. He noticed that Half Sack had waited for him to finish, and with his head he gestured the man to come closer.

The blonde biker came to stand next to him and stared into the coffin. His eyes wandered across her face, almost desperately. How would it be to know that someone was supposed to mean a lot to you, but that you weren't able to feel it?

Sighing, Sack turned away from the coffin. "I hoped that seeing her like this would trigger a memory, but there's nothing. Nothing at all..."

Kozik squeezed his shoulder. "Maybe it's a blessing that you don't feel this pain."

"Maybe..." He muttered. "But feeling nothing... hurts too."

After the funeral, Kozik went to Clay and Jax; their glances told him they had already been waiting for him.

"You okay brother?" Jax asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

He looked past the men. It was Juice he was worried about. He was sitting on a bench, staring forward without seeing anything. Bobby was sitting next to him so that he wasn't alone, and Kozik didn't plan on leaving him alone anytime soon.

He aimed his glance back at the two men next to him.

"You wanna come with us when we're going to interrogate the undertaker?"

Kozik hesitated. If he was honest, he felt too emotional for an interrogation; he didn't want his emotions to control him, causing an innocent person to suffer. "Think it's better if you do. I trust you. Lemme know what you find out."

Jax nodded, hugging him shortly. Clay nodded to him and Kozik returned to Juice. He sat down next to him.

"You shouldn't be alone now Juice," he said carefully. "None of us should. How about living at my place for a while? You need someone around you – and to be honest I need that too. And I'd be able to keep an eye on Mikey when you're having a hard time."

Juice didn't move. He still stared forward, sedated. Kozik doubted the man had heard him at all, until his lips started to move.

"Yeah," he said in a gravelly voice. "Guess you're right." Skittishly, he looked op. "Thanks."

Kozik wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulder and leaned with his head against his. "I need you just as much as you need me."

Only the thought that Juice was at his house, would already keep him from constantly worrying that the guy would OD again.

"Let's go home," he said. "I know that we both feared this outcome, but at least it's over now. We don't have to fear that every person we meet is one of Maddox's accomplices, and we no longer have to feel guilty for not being able to do anything while she's... going through hell. She found her peace now. Wherever she is – it can't be worse than the place she escaped from."

Juice looked up. Tears were shining in his eyes. "So many times I have wished that she would die... And now I feel guilty. You know – at first she didn't want a relationship with me at all because she was afraid of what Maddox would do to me. And now – now her feelings for me have led to her own death. If I hadn't persuaded her, if I hadn't..."

"He still would have found her, Juice. She still would have hated him, leading to the same outcome. I'm sure your love is the most beautiful thing that has happened to her. You should never regret that. Cherish it."

He dropped his eyes. Despite the tears, the corners of his mouth curled up a little. "It feels like she's talking to me now."

"We might have lost contact for a couple of years, but our bond ran deep. I know her. I know she would have agreed with me."

Juice nodded slowly and stood up. Kozik did the same, and he was a little surprised when the man gave him a squeezing hug. He felt Juice's body shaking against his and realized how much he needed someone who was there for him, who told him how to move on.

"Sack's gonna take you to my house, okay? I make sure Mikey spends another night at Amy's."

He had told the woman what had happened, and she had offered to look after Mikey for as long as was needed. He liked the thought; he knew how hard it had to be for a child to see a fatherly figure being torn apart by grief.

Juice nodded and the two men said their goodbyes and promised to see each other at his house a few hours later.

Around eight, he opened the door for Jax and let him in. Giving the man a beer, he sat down on the couch next to him.

"Is Juice here?"

Kozik nodded. "He's asleep. I'll tell him later what you have discovered."

"Which is not much," Jax sighed. "Like always, he erased his tracks very well. The guy who had arranged the funeral, went home sick two hours before the building was opened to the public. His colleague took his place, but all he had to do was being the host. We went to the first undertaker, but he wasn't able to tell us anything anymore."

"He's dead?"

"Lost his memory."

Sighing, Kozik leaned back in the couch. Of course he had. "There were no other data?"

"Random addresses and phone numbers. The undertaker that was around today, looked into the autopsy report and told me she was poisoned."

Kozik wasn't surprised. He had seen no signs of struggle.

"Then it was a quick death," he mused. "And now? We're letting him go?"

He knew Jax was still thirsty for vengeance since the man had killed his mother.

"I don't think we have a choice," Jax muttered. "We're trying to find him for two years now. The only moments of contacts were on his initiative and were only meant to torture us. His game is over now. And we lost."

"Yeah." Kozik leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He rubbed his face. "Hap's gonna disagree."

The thought about his friend made his stomach ache. He had his hands full with Juice, but he was just as worried about Happy. He would dig his own grave just as easily. Not because he could no longer bear the thought to live, but because his anger and powerlessness would be so devastating that he would lash out to every inmate or guard until he got death row.

"There ain't much Happy can do about it."

Kozik snorted. "He's gonna believe otherwise."