Nero thought that Juice Ortiz, in many very important ways, was an idiot - not a bad person, but an idiot, because the two were very different things. A bad person did bad things. An idiot did the wrong things, though not always for the wrong reasons. He had forgiven Juice, to some extent, for Darvany because he knew what Jax could drive a person to, but it didn't change the fact that he thought Juice still had a long way to go as far as building up a bit of a spine. Still, he couldn't help but notice that in the week that Denise had been staying in his guest room with Sofia, she didn't seem like herself without him. She didn't cry - she hadn't done so even once since she had arrived. But not crying wasn't the problem - Nero knew that Denise was probably all cried out. The problem was, she didn't do much of anything else either.

For better or worse, the Denise Nero knew usually tried to pretend to be happy, at least - this Denise wasn't that girl, and he felt his fatherly concern for her grow as he realized just how much the ordeal had taken out of her. She couldn't put on the brave front she used to anymore. Denise would feed Sofia, but hardly eat anything herself. She would put her to bed and stay up all night. So, Nero had a very paternal impulse to stand in the doorway and keep her from leaving when she said that she had a photoshoot to do out in Napa.

"You're exhausted, chinita," Nero chided, crossing his arms while Denise scurried around the living room of his place shoving her things into her camera bag. "You're probably about two cups of coffee away from a meltdown, and it'll take at least three to get you through the day. Napa, chinita. And if you take the 4 out that way, that's a couple hours," he said, as though repeating the location would somehow knock some sense into her. "Lemme drive you, I'll handle Fifi for the day -"

"No," Denise said, not looking up from preparing her bag. "I - I'm gonna bring Sofia by her daddy's place. See if she could use a little papi time."

Nero's shoulders sagged - it was heartbreaking that Denise couldn't even say her husband's name because it hurt so much, but he gave her credit that she'd thought to bring their baby over. It was the right thing to do, and he had to hand it to her. Denise tried her best to do what was right, even if it tore her up. At this point, though, it started to feel like Denise was hurting herself even more than anyone else was.

"Alright, mami," he said, walking over and giving the younger woman's shoulders a fond squeeze. "He should be free all day anyway. No runs lined up until tomorrow -"

"Tomorrow?" Denise answered shrilly, suddenly turning with her brow furrowed. "What's going on tomorrow? No one told me..."

Her voice trailed off. She had been here at Nero's place for about 5 days now, and had tried her best to keep her distance from anything in a kutte. There was no one who could've told her anyway. She sighed and shook her head, but Nero knew better - knew that whatever the case, she still worried.

"Mayans need a few extra bodies pulling security on the way to Chico," Nero explained, knowing that she would be too proud to ask for answers. "Alvarez is pickin' up a load there, gonna have a talk with a supplier about taking their business away from the Niners -"

"Niners?" Denise asked, her voice catching in her throat. "Aren't they -"

"Black. Working for Marks," Nero nodded. "I know. It's sloppy, chinita, but you can't say anythin'. You're not supposed to be part of this -"

"I know," Denise nodded. "I - I'm gonna go bring Sofia over there."

Denise didn't know why it bothered her so much that she hadn't known a thing about this - granted, it wasn't directly related to her, but she wasn't used to being so out of the loop. She loathed it. She resented it. Still, she put on the calmest face that she could muster when she pulled Sofia out of her carseat and made her way to the door.

"You there?" she called out, feeling too awkward to knock or ring her own doorbell. There was the sound of shuffling and Juice pulled the door open in seconds, staring at them in awe. Denise ached, knowing that he was hoping they were really back, when they weren't. She sighed, shifting and holding Sofia out towards him. The little girl squealed and babbled excitedly, reaching her tiny hands towards her daddy and wriggling until he took her from Denise's arms. "I've got a shoot out in Napa so I'm gonna be gone all day. She - she misses you," Denise shrugged. Juice smiled a little bit while he held his daughter and the little girl gently bopped his nose with her little fist. Denise felt herself smile in spite of herself.

"D'you have - uh, breakfast or anything?" Juice asked, nodding inside. "You wanna eat something before you head out?"

"Nah," Denise refused, unable to meet his gaze. "Just didn't want to bring Fifi all the way out there, I'm in a little bit of a rush. You're not... expecting anyone, are you?"

The question slipped out before Denise could help herself, and Juice flinched slightly, knowing the accusation that lingered behind the question. "No - no, just me and Fifi," Juice said, nodding fervently. "Thanks for this, Dee."

"You're her daddy, you're not gonna get out of watching her," she said with a lopsided grin. Juice laughed weakly as well and nodded.

"I can - make dinner? Somethin'?" Juice asked hopefully, and Denise tensed visibly. She didn't genuinely know if she was okay with dinner, with being around him for more than a few moments at a time. But was it right to make a choice out of spite? Didn't Sofia deserve for them to be civil? Friends, even? Dinner was small, no matter how awkward it turned out to be. A few uncomfortable hours was a small price to pay for a night of her daughter having a full family. This isn't about me, Denise had to remind herself. This isn't about me.

"Maybe a quick dinner," Denise nodded, and she had to fight the twinge of something in her heart at the smile that broke over Juice's face at her small concession. "I'll try to be back around six. Maybe seven, depending on the weather."

"Yeah. Okay," Juice nodded. "You, uh - drive safe."

"Yeah. I will."

As she drove away, Denise wasn't sure how she felt about the way things had gone - the first conversation she'd had with Juice since leaving the house was probably long overdue, but she hadn't felt anywhere near prepared. Her resolve wavered. This didn't feel natural, holding out on forgiving him, but she couldn't get the taste of betrayal out of her mouth. It was too much.

Moreover, the thought plagued her for the whole day that more than anything, she wanted to forgive him. She wanted all of this to go away so she could have her family back, because her family was all that she had. Denise needed to be working right now, she needed to be out and completely focused on taking photos at this wedding because it kept her mind from wandering places she didn't want it to go. But every time she saw the bride and groom smiling at each other through the viewfinder on her camera, she felt a small twinge of sadness. They were happy. They were getting a happily ever after and she wasn't, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

It was already dark when Denise pulled back into Charming on the way back home from Napa - traffic had been torturous, and highway patrol had been out in full force, so the drive took nearly an hour longer than it should have. It was almost eight o'clock when Denise managed to get back to the house, and she knocked gently on the door.

"Lookit, princess - mommy's home!" Juice's voice came from inside, followed by a loud, happy squeal from Sofia - Denise couldn't help but smile, and she was still smiling when Juice came to the door carrying their daughter, whose face was smudged with the evidence that he had obviously let her get into some kind of fruits. Following Denise's discerning, motherly gaze, Juice reached up to wipe Sofia's face. "Sorry - she was getting grabby at the food while I was cooking so I cut her up some strawberries to keep her busy."

"It looks like Fifi had a facial, huh? Did Fifi have a spa day with Daddy?" Denise said, reaching over and giving in to the impulse to just squish her daughter's cheeks a little bit. "Do you still have room for dinner, sweetie? Are you still hungry?"

"I made lasagna," Juice spoke up suddenly, and Denise glanced over and saw that Juice had gone all out, set the table with Sofia's high chair between two regular chairs. She took a deep breath and forced a small smile, going over to take a seat.

It crossed her mind that they'd never had dinner like this back when things were okay - they'd never sat the table at the end of a long day like this, the way Denise had always had dinner growing up. The next thought that crossed her mind was the memory that Juice was, in fact, a pretty good cook.

What hurt the most was that he was trying so hard - Denise knew that he was sorry, and that he genuinely wanted things to be okay again. Denise wanted to be ready. She wanted to be able to do this. But dinner was all she could swing right now. The table was uncomfortably silent, and Denise groped mentally for something to say - something. Anything.

"So," she began. "Nero told me about that... that thing."

"What?"

"The thing," Denise said vaguely. "Tomorrow. With, you know. With them. For the club."

Juice took a moment to pick up on the fact that Denise was talking about the run to Chico, and that she was just trying not to talk about it in any specific terms in front of Sofia. Juice cleared his throat and shrugged.

"I guess I just never got a chance to let you know," he explained. "Since, you know..."

"I know," Denise nodded, looking down at her food and taking another bite. "Well, be careful out there."

"You mean that?" Juice asked suddenly, looking genuinely surprised that Denise had mentioned it. She gave him a lopsided grin and nodded.

"Course I do," she answered. "I know - I know Sofia won't want anything bad happening to her Daddy, and... and I..."

And I what? Denise cleared her throat and looked away again, but Juice felt a sense of peace at the fact that she was at least concerned about him, about his safety on a run. It was tempting to press her further, to get her to give him a little more, but a part of him felt like he still didn't deserve it. Still, the conversation caused a crack in the floodgates and he looked up from his own plate at Denise, but before he opened his mouth to speak, Denise beath him to it.

"Call when you get back," she said suddenly, her face going slightly red. "I - I wanna bring Sofia over again. She misses you and your snoring."

"What about you?" Juice couldn't help but ask. "Do you miss me?"

Denise looked up at him sadly, and Juice realized that maybe he had pushed it a little too far. Things had been going so well, and he had to go and do this again, because he couldn't be happy with what he was getting out of Denise, that they were at least around one another without being completely at one another's throats. She sighed quietly and shrugged.

"I don't think this is a good time to talk about it," Denise said weakly. "Just - be safe out there is all I'm asking."

"Course I will," Juice nodded. "I'll always come back for my girls."

Denise, for whatever reason felt a familiar pressure behind her eyes upon hearing the words come out of Juice's mouth because it was true. No matter how bad he messed up, he always came back home to them, always remembered that he had to keep them safe. Denise knew that between the two of them, she was the runner - Juice ran off to clear his head more often, but Denise knew that she harbored more ill feelings, left more destruction in her wake. But what was she supposed to do when it hurt like this? She took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

"Thanks for dinner," Denise said with a tilt at one corner of her lips that was only a shadow of a smile. "We should do it again soon."

"Yeah," Juice said, mirroring her expression. "Whenever you want."

After helping clean up, Denise looked over to find that Sofia was sleeping, so she scooped the little girl into her arms to bring her out to the car, but not before Juice gestured for her to bring Fifi closer so he could say bye.

"Bye-bye, princess," Juice said, leaning over and kissing his sleeping daughter's forehead. "Daddy just needs a kiss for good luck tomorrow, aight?"

Denise's breath caught in her throat, having Juice leaning so close to her to kiss Sofia goodnight, and she fought back the need to gulp until she had gotten a few steps away from him, heading down the driveway to her car.

Having dinner with Juice had been so surreal, it was unsettling, and Denise harbored that same feeling through the night after she'd gotten back to Nero's, and all the way into the next morning. She spent the entire day on her computer, editing photos while Nero played with Sofia - Denise teased him that Diosa couldn't run itself, and Nero retorted that it probably could.

The day went by in a blur - Denise, in all honesty, hardly even felt time pass. Before she knew it, it was already dark out and she was still working on photos, long after Nero had put Sofia to bed.

"Told you this mornin'. Coffee ain't a substitute for sleep, Chinita," Nero said, raising his eyebrows chidingly before he went to bed himself. "You finish up."

"Yeah. Right," Denise laughed half-heartedly. She wasn't sure she had any intention of sleeping just yet. She sat in the same spot, firmly attached to her laptop and still working on photos until her eyes felt like they couldn't stare at the screen for another second. She was half-convinced to maybe follow Nero's advice until she saw a pair of headlights outside of the window. Brow furrowing in concern, she looked up at the clock. Who would be pulling up here at two in the morning? Feeling her heartbeat grow faster and fluttery, she reached over to her bag on the other end of the couch and pulled out the pocketknife she had grown accustomed to keeping inside.

She walked carefully over to the door but breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that it was Lyla's car. However, when Denise opened the door to ask her friend what she was doing here so late, the blonde woman didn't give her a chance to speak - she just grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her towards the car.

"Easy there," Denise laughed nervously. "What are you -"

"Deedee, you gotta come with me, quick," Lyla said, her voice tired and nervous. Denise was about to launch into her usual string of questioning when she glanced towards Lyla's car and saw someone else sitting in the back seat. Wendy was in the car too.

"Whoa," Denise said, yanking her arm away from Lyla with a disparaged expression. "What's she doing here?"

"It's not just her, the boys are in there with her," Lyla said, waving her hand dismissively and pulling Denise towards the car still. "It's the guys - the meet went south, got crashed by the Niners -"

"What?" Denise snapped, finally giving in and allowing Lyla to pull her to the car. Denise didn't even acknowledge Wendy's presence with a greeting, only bothering to stare at Lyla with a wide-eyed, confused expression. Wendy, on her part, had nothing to say anyway, instead busying herself with looking at Abel sleeping with his head in her lap, and Thomas in his seat."What are you talking about?"

"Everyone's back in one piece," Lyla explained, realizing that she'd just made Denise even more frantic. "But some of them are in pretty bad shape - it got messy," Lyla said, shaking her head.

If a few minutes ago, Denise's heart had been fluttering, now it was pounding. There was only one reason why Lyla would come to get her in such a hurry.

"You idiot," she muttered to herself as Lyla started down the road to the hospital. Denise's mind was racing with the countless things that could have happened. "I told you to be careful..."

"Juice isn't doing so hot," Lyla said carefully, grimacing as she saw Denise flinch from the corner of her eye. "I don't know the details but - I think he needs you."

"And her?" Denise couldn't help but ask with a slight sneer with a nod towards the back seat, even if now was neither the time nor place.

"Jax too," Lyla said in a sad voice. "So can you two just call a cease fire for now while we figure this shit out?"

Denise finally looked back over the headrest of her own seat and looked at Wendy to see not week ago. Wendy's face was tired, and worried, and hurting. For a moment, she was just another person who was scared for someone she cared about - loved. If there was one thing that Denise was certain of, it was that as messed up as things were, none of it wouldn't have happened if Wendy didn't love Jax. For at least that moment, they were too similar for Denise to put her anger first.

"Yeah," Denise nodded, looking back at Lyla. "Just get us to St. Thomas's as fast as you can."

A/N's

I know, I know - I torture everyone a little bit too much in this story! But it's all in the name of good entertainment, so I hope you'll forgive me! The next chapter will see the aftermath of a run gone bad, but it won't be all sadness and angst. We're gonna see a few interesting conversations, but I won't spoil who is gonna be doing the talking just yet. Thank you again for all of your feedback! Good or bad, every review I get really drives me to make each chapter better than the last. Also, if you're on Tumblr, check out my fanfic-specific account (la-vik-ffn) for some new posts related to the story, including a companion playlist for these angsty Juice/Denise chapters.

And finally, I am also a little burnt out from the angst too, so I am writing a one-shot of Juice and Denise back in Stockton having better days, if you remember the good old days back in "On the Rocks", so I might post that in the future too.

I'm sitting at my desk at work on my break as I type this author's note, since I brought my laptop with me today, so you get this mid-day update. As always, I appreciate hearing from all of you! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Until next time, cheers!