A/N: This chapter is best read like a Sutter-esque montage, a glimpse at a lot of our story's main players. My soundtrack of choice is "Everchanging" by Rise Against.

"She wouldn't leave like that, she wouldn't just leave me here like this - I don't know anything about being the - the Queen of SAMCRO? I didn't fuckin' want this!"

Wendy's voice was frantic, and she was glad that Lyla had come by to check on her while the boys were at school. It still came as a shock that Juice and Denise had simply up and left. Denise was one of the few people Wendy considered a friend - because Denise had forgiven her and been there for her when she had really no reason to. She couldn't have left. She couldn't. But, now that the Ortiz house had been empty for almost a week, it seemed like they would need to accept it sooner than later.

Lyla walked over and gave Wendy's shoulder a squeeze, forcing a small, lopsided grin. "She's got a family she's looking out for, just like we do," Lyla shrugged. "You can't tell me you never thought of, you know, throwin' your shit in a van and making a getaway with all the people you love."

"Course I have," Wendy said, trying to laugh but failing, shaking her head desperately. "But - but I can't, you know? I can't do that. And I wanted to have her here in case I can't do this, in case Jax and I go to shit again. I'm scared," Wendy said, crossing her arms. "Especially for Abel. I know - I know I wanted this, I know wanted Deedee to step aside so I could be a mom to the boys, but I don't know," she said shakily. "I don't know."

"We do the best we can," Lyla said. "I don't know what else -"

But she was cut off when the door swung open abruptly with Jax tromping his way inside, still clad in his coveralls from the shop. "Wendy," he said. "You seen the envelope I left on the counter?"

"Must've cleaned it up -"

"Well, it was fuckin' there for a reason," Jax hissed in exasperation. "I got somewhere to be with Wenya in an hour and I ain't got time to -"

"I'm... I'm gonna go," Lyla interrupted, feeling a twinge of discomfort in being caught in a room with Wendy, and with Jax who seemed to have no qualms in dragging anyone and everyone into this fight that clearly didn't need to include anyone else. She glanced at Wendy and cleared her throat. "If you somethin' - anything - call me, okay?"

"Yeah," Wendy nodded, though her gaze was still focused on Jax. "Yeah, I will."

Once Lyla had left through the front door, Wendy took a few tentative steps towards Jax, her arms still crossed over her chest. "What's the matter with you?" she asked, putting all of her effort into sounding gentle, therapeutic. That was what he needed, wasn't it? But judging by his reaction, Jax was in no mood to be psychoanalyzed.

"What's the matter?" he asked, eyes wild with fury as he paced menacingly towards Wendy so that they were practically toe-to-toe. "What's the matter is that Bobby's dead, and Juice and Deedee have up and run so now, we've lost some of the people who we needed the most because you and me decided it was a good idea to up and get married again -"

"You and me?" Wendy repeated in a shrill, derisive tone. "There was no fuckin' you and me in this decision, Jax, you asked me to marry you! I was okay with whatever we were as long as you let me feel like I was something. I didn't ask for this, you did -"

"Yeah, okay," Jax said with a sick expression. "And maybe it was just as much of a mistake as the first time."

Wendy hissed, recoiling as though she had been physically hit - she might have preferred it, because then at least the pain would be something she could nurse away. But this? To all of a sudden yank away what she was sure had finally, finally been the happy ending she'd been working so hard to prove herself worthy of? She opened her mouth, groping for some angry, caustic retort, but found nothing except a choked sob able to leave her lips. She covered her face with her hands to conceal her tears as she made for the front door, but when she passed through it and slammed it behind her, she wasn't able to go another few steps without running into someone.

"Hey - hey, shh," Lyla's voice lilted as her hand came to rest on Wendy's back. Overwhelmed, Wendy leaned into the thinner, younger blonde woman's arms and let herself cry.

"Jax - he - Oh, god, Ly," Wendy stammered incoherently, shaking her head into Lyla's shoulder. "He - he said -"

"I know, I heard," Lyla admitted, running a hand over Wendy's now-tousled hair. "C'mon, come with me - you don't need this."

Wendy's emotions shifted from grief to numbness after she sat down in the passenger side of Lyla's car and they started on the road to go pick up the boys. It was a favor Lyla had taken on doing for them lately, since Ellie could drive now and was picking up more and more responsibility - but even more than that, talking more and more about leaving Charming and taking her brother with her.

"It's rough," Lyla said suddenly, her voice distant and her eyes still focused on the road. "Loving someone who loves somebody who's... you know, dead."

And in that moment, it hit Wendy hard that whatever she may have wanted to believe, the truth was that she and Jax would have never gotten married again if Tara hadn't died. Tara was always the one Jax would love more. This was nothing different than the first time. Jax was lonely and needed someone because he felt like he was losing everyone else, but when marrying Wendy didn't stop those losses, she knew he would come to love her less and less, and now, she and her tied tubes couldn't even get pregnant to try and make him stay again.

Things came back full circle. Things were never meant to change. She thought she had gotten better, gotten past the person she used to be. But, Wendy thought to herself, here she was again. She felt a familiar itch, a familiar urge...

"Mama, you can't be serious..."

Nero started incredulously at Gemma, who was staring into her hands at the prepaid phone she had brought with her from Marks, and she stared at him with a tired look in her eyes. It was torture, being here but not being able to see her boys, to talk to them, to hold them. A hundred times over, she told Nero she wished that Marks just hadn't let her go at all. But that wasn't what this is about.

"I have to give 'em somethin'," she said, shaking her head in resignation. "I have to throw Marks a bone once in a while, or else he'll realize this was all a setup, that Deedee brought me back -"

"To protect you," Nero said, his upper lip curling into a sneer. "because no matter what you did to her or to those boys, she loves you like a mother -"

"- and I'm not doing this to hurt her," Gemma snapped back, raising her eyebrows with threatening finality. "I need you to keep quiet. Marks can't hear you in the background or we're all fucked, alright?"

"Yeah," Nero said with a sour expression after a brief silent. "Aight. Make your call - but if anything bad comes of this -"

"Nothing will," Gemma promised, raising her right hand as though taking an oath. Nero exhaled and looked away to indicate his concession, while Gemma began dialing on the phone. "August," she said, her voice taking on an uncharacteristically feeble tone when she spoke to the man who, in many ways, was playing th strings of their fate. "I have news."

"It's about time, Gemma."

"It's Denise. Denise Ortiz," Gemma stated, her voice cracking slightly with hesitation. "Left without a note, nothin'. She and her family, they're on the run."

"From who?"

"From SAMCRO," Gemma nodded, her eyes fluttering shut. "She wanted out. She won't work with Jax anymore."

Nero, on the other side of the room, was practically holding his breath, feeling as though he had betrayed the girl whom he had come to see as a daughter by allowing this to happen in his own home. He heard every word from Marks through the phone, and the next statement sent a foreboding chill through him.

"That's very interesting. Very useful. Thank you."

And Marks hung up without another word. Stunned at what she'd done, Gemma dropped the phone on the couch and let out a shuddering breath before looking back at Nero.

"I had to, baby," she said pleadingly, shaking her head. "They won't find her. She's too smart, and this is all they wanted, to get her money out of Jax's hands. They don't need anything else -"

"You think this stops here?" Nero asked, scratching the back of his neck in frustration and walking over, sitting down in the armchair across from Gemma. He looked up at her in disbelief, nodding and laughing sadly. "This ain't over, Mama. Not by a long shot."

Denise scooped Baby Sofia up off of the newly fluffed hotel bed as she was in thr process of crawling towards Juice, who had flopped onto the bed with a tired groan.

"Sorry, sweetie," Denise laughed, bouncing the little girl to keep her from crying. "Daddy's got booboos, he can't be your jungle gym right now."

"Booboo!" Sofia said, clapping her hands and reaching out towards Juice, who opened his tired eyes and grinned sleepily at his daughter while he had his fingers laced behind his neck, moving as little as possible since he had just come from a tattoo removal treatment and his skin still felt raw and achy. "Mwah!" Sofia said with a clumsy flying-kiss gesture. "Mwah!"

"You can give Dada kissies," Denise giggled, holding her closer to Juice's face so she could place a sloppy kiss on her father's cheek. "Kissies!"

Juice grinned calmly - there was something calming and beautiful about the fact that they were free to be a family, uninterrupted, even if things were still in the air. Denise was his wife, the mother of his child - not an old lady.

"Any luck with the house hunting?" Juice asked once Denise and Sofia had settled next to him on the bed and Sofia had taken to instead tugging on Denise's hair. Denise, gently batting at her baby daughter's hand, gave a small shrug.

"There's this townhouse in Albuquerque, under two-hundred grand," Denise said, the wrinkle at the corner of her eyes giving away the fact that she was trying her best to be casual. "It's got everything we need - it's in a state without a Sons charter," she said carefully, rubbing Sofia's back soothingly. "I... I think it'd be a good start for us."

"New Mexico?" Juice asked, a small smile quirking at the side of his lips. "You wanna move there?"

Denise looked at her husband with a small, expectant smile which he immediately returned, reaching out and grabbing her hand. "I do," she nodded.

"Then let's pack up, go check this place out in the morning," Juice said with a grin. "Freak the realtor out by offering to buy the place in cash."

"Sounds a little shady," Denise chuckled. "I can't wait."

A/N's

I know, I know, I owe you all quite a few explanations. Things with work and my family have been busy, so I've been struggling with getting my writing schedule, and the next few chapters where I set up the next big events have been a little tough for me to write. I have a lot of pieces that need to fall into place. Wendy and Jax aren't going to remain in the same light, fluffy place by a long shot, and things are going to get messy again soon.

Anyway, I'll keep it short and sweet! I'm also currently working on the next update for "Flown South" which I hope will be ready for posting soon for those of you who are also following that story. So, until next update for either story, cheers!