Denise still hung her head miserably, though she had long cried her eyes dry - what had happened to Sofia? Did Juice find her? For all she knew, she would die without ever knowing the answers to these questions.

"We're gonna get outta this."

"Just shut up, Jax," Denise said weakly. "Please. Just for once, don't say anything. It just makes everything worse."

And for once, Jackson Teller did as he was asked. He had nothing to say to Denise because he wasn't convinced how they would get out of this, and if they didn't, that would leave only the remaining members of SAMCRO to protect Charming from Marks. Everything would have been for naught, and it would all have been because Jax had taken everything too far.

There was a creaking sound, and Denise and Jax both tensed in preparation for Marks, in case he had come to finish whatever he had planned for them, but instead, they were joined by two men in suits. One of them, Denise immediately realized, was Charles. But the other, clad in a suit and minus his old glasses, his face bearing a smug but unfamiliar expression, took a moment to recognize.

"Harvey," Denise said, her voice still weak and tired. "Why - what are you -"

"I wish I could say this was about you. I had a thing for you," he smirked matter-of-factly while Charles shut the door behind him. "But this is bigger than you now, sweetheart."

"Go to hell -"

"Only if you both join me," Harvey sneered. "And I assure you, you will."

"You killed Melissa."

"You killed my brother," he hissed, looking back and forth between Jax and Denise. "You murdered him." He stalked closer to Denise, but as he approached, Jax made a wild movement with his legs still bound at the ankles, knocking the man off of his feet.

"We don't know your fuckin' brother, man, you're out of your -"

"Flick. Flick was my brother," Harvey said, lunging over and crashing his fist against Jax's face. "You killed my brother and now I'm going to watch you squirm, just like you watched him -"

"Your brother was a snitch," Jax retorted in defiance, spitting out blood from his split lip. "He was scum. He was a horny little piece of shit that couldn't earn our trust, so he turned around and went to the highest bidder. Looks like it runs in the family -"

He grunted as the man's fist collided with his face again, and Harvey got back to his feet, straightening out his clothes and panting heavily. Jax froze up at the sound of shuffling, of Denise struggle against being tied up, but Harvey simply knocked her down onto her back.

"And you," he sneered. "Melissa is dead because of you, not me -"

"You're fucking insane -"

"I settled for her. I settled for that simpering little twit because you ran off to be a biker's wife when I could've given you everything," he shrugged, circling her like a shark circling its prey in the water. "But now this is bigger than you. You're just like her. You're in the way."

"Where's my daughter?" Denise snarled nastily, resuming her thrashing against her bonds. "Where's Sofia. you piece of -"

"Hell if I know," Harvey taunted. Jax's jaw clenched as he watched the scene with nothing he could do, but he caught a brief glimpse of Charles, who hung back without speaking. Denise's brother had his hand at his waist underneath the jacket of his suit, and Jax knew he was probably armed. If he or Denise got out of hand, they were dead...

"Fuck off, man," Jax snarled, the old almost brotherly sense of protectiveness he'd once felt for Denise bubbling back to the surface. She glanced at him with a flicker of hope. "She ain't SAMCRO. Your beef ain't with her, it's with me."

"Your little girl is worth a fortune, isn't she?" Harvey continued, disregarding Jax's interruption and keeping his gaze trained firmly on the woman bound in front of him. "If we take care of your and your husband, then she's the one worth millions. I'm sure Uncle Charlie will take good care of her -"

"Don't you dare," Denise hissed, her eyes filling with tears as her gaze shot back and forth between her brother and Harvey. Jax had to look away. His rage at seeing a woman this vulnerable being taunted with the life of her family hanging in the balance was too much to bear. When Jax looked elsewhere, however, his gaze again landed on Charles, who bore a pale, almost sickly look on his face, accompanied by another emotion he never expected to see from him: determination. "I swear to God, if you touch my family - I swear -"

"You swear what?" Harvey said, leaning his face down closer to Denise's. "You'll roll around down there and yell at us some more? No one's here to save you two. No one knows where you are. Anything could happen out here and all we have to do is leave your bodies somewhere to rot -"

But what happened next was almost too fast to process. Charles moved rapid and shadow-like from the place where he stood. He pulled the gun from his waistband, and upon hearing the telltale click, Harvey quickly straightened up to face him with an exasperated expression.

"For Chrissakes, Kwan, don't jump the fuckin' gun here -"

But before Harvey could finish, Charles had fired a single shot straight into his forehead, and Denise rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being pinned down by Harvey's dead body. Charles gulped and dropped the gun to the ground, shaking slightly and looking back and forth between the two dumbstruck prisoners in the room. After a moment of tense silence, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small knife, first approaching his sister and cutting through the ties around her wrist and ankles, then doing the same for Jax.

Denise looked up at her brother in confusion, still unable to get to her feet while she rubbed her raw wrists. Charles stood between the dumbstruck pair, took a heaving breath, and picked up the gun from the ground. He then reached out and pulled Denise to her feet before holding the gun out to her.

"Take this and go," he said in a tense voice. "But make it look like I put up a fight. He'll kill me if you don't."

"I don't understand..."

"Blood still means something. And you and that little girl are the only blood I have left," Charles said, looking away but still holding the gun out. He only lowered his arm when Denise obliged and took the weapon from his hand. Denise looked over at Jax, who had gotten to his feet.

"What does Marks have planned?" Jax said, coming up behind Charles, who shuddered - he was still just as fearful, just as cowardly as Denise had remembered after everything.

"You need to go back to Charming."

"Why?"

"Because the Niners are attacking tonight," Charles said, his eyes clenching shut. "They're going to hack SAMCRO and the Mayans so they'll be weak, and then while everyone's mourning, August is sending another wave to burn Charming to the ground."

Jax's hands clenched into fists at his sides, and Charles flinched in fear, but Jax did not lash out. Now was not the time. "Send Deedee back to where she came from," Jax said, unable to look the woman in the eye. "This isn't her place anymore -"

"Juice and Sofia are in Charming too."

Denise gave a hoarse gasp, clutching one hand to her chest, and Jax hurried over in case she keeled over from emotion - he should have known better, he realized. Denise Ortiz was no fainting damsel in distress. Charles hung his head, his eyes still clenched shut.

"Please make it look like I tried to stop you," he repeated in shame. "Please."

He finally managed to lift his gaze to look at his sister, who stared at him, panting in exhaustion. However, she nodded and raised the gun, nodding for Jax to step aside.

"Right shoulder," she warned. "If you flinch, you die."

And she fired the shot as promised into the non-critical spot, sending him falling to the ground , clutching the bleeding wound. Clenching his teeth and staggering, he forced himself to his feet and looked at his sister. "Get one good hit in before you run, Mei-mei. It's what I deserve."

"Thank you," she said with a quiet nod, looking eyes with him briefly before throwing her fist to collide with the side of his face. As he dropped to a knee on the ground near Harvey, Denise looked to Jax and gestured for him to follow her to the door.

When they reached the outside and managed to adjust their eyes, however, the fact arose that they didn't know where they were or how they'd get back.

"I'm going back for his phone -"

"No time," Jax said, grabbing her by the forearm as she turned to try and go back. "They'll find a way to track us or somethin'. We just gotta keep runnin', get our asses back to Charming before it's too late. We follow the road out to the highway, find our way from there."

Denise paused, staring at Jax with deep distrust, but he reached over and clapped his hands on both of her shoulders, leaning his face closer to hers.

"I know you don't wanna be there," he said knowingly. "But your family's there now too. After this, you're done. You and Juice are out. I'm keepin' my word, aight? Just help me. One last fuckin' time, Deedee, please. This is bigger than our beef now."

Her expression softened. Jax Teller was begging. He wasn't demanding or commanding. He was begging.

"Please," he repeated. "I can't make it halfway up the state alone and unarmed. I know that. You gotta help me, Deedee."

Denise knew there was no time to be torn. She knew that she had to decide, and right now, all that mattered was Juice and Sofia. If it meant one last ride with SAMCRO, then it was what had to happen.

"We find a way to call Nero," Denise said, striding away past Jax and up the dry road lined with dead grass. "We need him. We'll never make it on foot."

"Eyes on the road, brother!"

Chibs roared over the wind at Juice, who was on his bike but starting to fall behind the others. The Grim Bastards, the Mayans, and the Sons had started forming search parties up and down all of the major roadways in the area to try and find Jax and Denise, but Juice was distracted. He'd had to leave Sofia with Lyla, who had taken on the role not only of watching all of the kids, but also Wendy, who was clearly unstable.

Juice snapped back to attention to see Chibs give a hand signal that they were taking the next exit, and he followed the rest of their group into the rest stop as they approached. He removed his helmet after he had come to a stop, letting out a heaving breath.

"We'll find 'er," Tig said, gnawing slightly on the inside of his cheek and clapping a hand on Juice's shoulder in a rare show of actual concern, almost affection for the younger man. "I know that broad. She'll always find a way back to you, ya idiot."

"Yeah," Juice said weakly, though his expression didn't change. His mind had already wandered to the worst, and in spite of how badly he wanted to have hope, to believe that his wife would turn up safe and that he'd be able to see her again, his mind was already focused on the idea that he wanted revenge. They had taken enough from him, and if it came to pass that they'd taken his wife, then Heaven help them. He'd kill again, and this time, he wouldn't think twice.

There was a faint ringing sound, and Alvarez reached into his pocket to pull out a prepaid - he answered in Spanish, and most of the others around except for the handful of Mayans that had come onto this route waited in apprehension to hear the news, unable to catch onto the rapid foreign tongue. After what felt like ages, Alvarez hung up. He looked to the sky briefly and made the sign of the cross, mumbling a brief prayer before addressing the group.

"Niners on their way up the 5 with all the guns they've got," he said, sneering. "Heading up towards Charming. We gotta haul ass back."

There was a string of curses from nearly every mouth as bikes were mounted and started, roaring back to life once again. Juice, however, was conspicuously silent. He'd wanted revenge on the people who put his wife and his daughter in danger. Maybe this would take time away from the hunt for Denise. Maybe this was a distraction. But if it was revenge he wanted - and it was - then he was going to get his chance.

A/N's

And off we go! Not too long, but an update nonetheless. There was going to be a third part of this chapter, but I think that scene is better saved for next update. Sorry for the delay, things have been incredibly crazy. I've also been playing with the idea of starting a new Sons of Anarchy story that's Tig-centric, but I want to finish this one first since we don't have too much longer to go, and also I want to know if it's something you guys would be interested in reading. And of course, I'm working on the next installment of Flown South, which is shaping up nicely. I want to thank all of you guys for all of your support on all of my stories!

As always, I love hearing from all of you, so if you have a moment, reviews and messages are very much appreciated and brighten up my day immensely. I hope you enjoyed this update! Until next time, cheers!