Gemma hung up the phone in the office at Teller & Sons Automotive and let out a surprised noise. I was organizing some files, so I turned around to look at her and said, "Dare I ask?"

"We have our first customer for an at home oil change."

"We do?" I questioned, my excitement completely evident in my voice.

"We do." She finished filling out the service order and stood up asking, "Quinn and Rat are in the garage, right?"

"Yeah. Why…?" Then it hit me. She was going to give this job to them and I was going to be stuck in the office with her. "Gemma! No! You can't be serious."

"I promised Happy that I would look out for you while he was taking care of club business. This is me doing just that."

"Oh come on Gemma, that's weak and you know it. I mean seriously, who's our first customer…? Galen?"

Her eyes widened and I could tell my insolence took her by surprise. Normally I wouldn't back talk her like that, but this was my pet project and Dad had promised not to let his paranoia or insecurities get in the way of me helping to make it a success. Jax had also said that he wanted me to be at the forefront of this part of the business to help prove to Charming that Teller & Sons wasn't just a name change, it was a regime change as well.

I guess Gemma didn't get that memo. Or maybe she did and she just threw it away. Or ignored it to do whatever she wanted. That really shouldn't have come as a surprise to me at all, but it still hurt all the same.

"No," she finally answered, let her displeasure at my bad joke be heard. "Actually, it's Lieutenant Roosevelt."

"Eli? Really?" I smiled and felt a little bit proud that he would call to have us do work for him. But the afterglow faded quickly s I stared our matriarch down and said, "Wait! If you're being serious, then why can't I go? If 'm not safe working on Eli's truck at his house, then where the fuck else would I be safe?"

"Mia…" She tried to caution me.

I plucked the work order out of her hand and stormed out of the office before she could finish that thought and announce, "I'll take Rat with me."

"RAT!" I hollered as I slammed the office door shut.

He came running but pulled up short of making it to my side. When he realized that it was me who had summoned him, he crossed his arms over his chest and defiantly said, "You aren't my boss."

"You're right, I'm not," I agreed in a humble tone.

"And you aren't a member of the MC, so you don't get to order me around."

I felt myself visibly deflate in front of him as I admitted, "You're right. I'm not."

He looked completely surprised that I wasn't arguing or challenging him, so I took a step closer to him saying, "But I AM your coworker and… And I would really appreciate your help on this job."

"Job?" He questioned suspiciously.

"Yeah, job. We have our first mobile customer."

He took the work order I was showing him so that he could read it over. "Holy shit. Congrats, Mia. I knew we'd get one sooner than later."

"So? Does that mean you'll come with me?"

He handed me the piece of paper back and smiled replying, "That's one job I'm sure you're more than safe to do on your own."

As I reclaimed the paper with my right hand, I caught his wrist with my left. I have no idea what look he was wearing then because I kept my eyes fixed on the ground as I pleaded, "Please don't make me beg."

"What?"

I turned just my eyes up at look at his face. I almost laughed at the perplexed look he was wearing, but I managed to contain myself. "You said it so yourself the other night, I'm not supposed to be left alone. My dad made me promise I wouldn't bitch about having a chaperone, so that he can get this Irish shit figured out and I never break my promises to him. Please, Rat? Please, come with me."

"Yeah… okay. I'll grab the kit. Do you want to take the tow truck?"

I finally raised my chin so that I could look him in the eye more easily. "Since I'm all about making amends today, what if I let you drive my truck?"

He smiled brightly then answered, "You have yourself a chaperone. I'll go grab the supplies and then I'll meet you at your truck."

While I waited for Rat, Gemma stepped out of her office. As soon as I saw her, I immediately went on the defensive. "Gemma, this was my pitch to the club, so I…"

"You're right, Sweetheart," she interrupted as she held her hands up in surrender. "This is your baby, so you should be a part of this. I just thought that this would make things easier for you."

"A surgical mask?" I questioned as I took it out of her hands.

"You still have a couple more days until your stitches come out. That will help you to keep them clean." She leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "Call to check in when you're done."

My eyes remained fixed on the mask as I nodded. She then went back into her office and I walked over to my truck. When Rat finally had everything packed in the box of my truck, he found me sitting in the passenger seat. He slipped into the driver's seat and tried not to notice the tears threatening to spill down my cheeks as I stared at the cloth mask in my hands.

"Fucking asshole fucked everything up," I said to my lap. "I let him off too easily. I should have made him suffer. I should have squeezed his last breath out with my bare hands."

Rat then sputtered out a laugh causing me to turn and ask in a near devastated voice, "What's so funny?"

"Sorry! I… I was just thinking back to when you first moved here. I can't believe we… we thought…" He shook his head and let his thought trail off there.

"You thought what?" I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.

He gave me a half smile then answered, "Back when we didn't know who you are, V-Lin and I were getting high with Happy and … he sort of made it sound like you two were… were an item. But now I can't believe that we didn't see the family resemblance sooner."

"Dad made it sound like we were an item? How?"

"Well, V-Lin and I… we… uhh…"

I reached over and pat his forearm with a soft chuckle. "Don't worry. JC… err… Juice told me what you guys used to say about me. I swear that I've never held it against you guys. You've never done it where I could hear it and you've never treated me like I was a Sweet Butt, so we're cool. Honestly, I'm more surprised that Dad didn't break a bone or worse."

"I think it has a little something to do with us not knowing who you really were and him trying to keep that cover story going."

"True. Poor Dad, he really had to go against his instincts for a while there."

"Thank God," he agreed a little too genuinely.

I patted hi mon the arm again then said, "Even then, he wouldn't have killed you or anything… well unless Jax gave the order. He takes the brotherhood of the club very seriously and wouldn't do anything to harm any of you."

"Not as seriously as he does your well-being." He briefly took his eyes off the road to check my reaction. "You do know that part of the reason I joined Juice on that ride to check on Bobby was because Happy asked me to, right?"

"What? No… he did? Really? Why?"

"Yeah, he did. Happy wanted to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid. He was worried that after what happened with Clay that Juice might slip into self-destruct mode."

I snorted in a laugh then said, "Damn. Dad is so much more perceptive than I thought he was. I'll have to watch myself around him more."

"I didn't put two and two together until we got back, but… I mean, if you two aren't… together… why haven't you been with anyone else? You know, you could have your pick of a hundred guys, Mia."

I stared out the passenger side window and answered, "Can't… I have a deformity."

"Your stitches? I know you're self-conscious about them, but they really don't make you look all that different. I barely even notice them anymore."

I shook my head then hoarsely replied, "It isn't that… I…" I took in a stuttered breath to try to will my tears away. "It's just… I fell in love and now I have a hole in my heart that no random guy can fill."

"Shit," he sighed out as he reached out to grip my wrist. "I'm sorry."

I place my hand over his then almost frantically said, "But please don't tell anyone I said that. Fuck… I… I haven't even told my dad that… I shouldn't have said anything."

"Your secret's safe with me. But…" He squeezed my wrist again then said, "There's something I didn't tell you about our ride with Bobby."

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Do I really want to know it?"

"I think you do."

I stared at the side of his face and honestly answered, "I do, but only if it isn't bad news."

"It isn't."

I continued to stare at his profile, but he made no effort to look at me or to elaborate just yet. Since he was leaving the ball in my court, I said, "Alright then… hit me."

He smiled softly then answered, "I wasn't totally honest when you asked me about him and other girls… when I said he wasn't with anyone on the ride…"

"You said it wasn't bad news."

"It isn't. What I didn't tell you is that when the random Crow Eaters were trying to hit on him, he didn't just say 'no'. He tried his best to let them down easy by answering their advances with a polite, 'my girlfriend calls me JC'. I honestly thought that you two were still together, so I took the liberty of filling in some of the blanks about you… and how it was in their best interest to leave him alone. I just… I mean I didn't know, but I'm…"

"Don't apologize," I interrupted with a grateful smile. "Don't ever apologize for doing that."

XXXXXX

By the time we got to Eli's, I had been able to pull out my compact to work at hiding any evidence of my conversation with Rat. Don't get me wrong, they were tears of appreciation, but I didn't need anyone to know I had been crying. Even if they fell for a good reason, it would be too easy for someone to misconstrue them and that never turned out well for me.

"So? How do you want to do this?" Rat asked once he had parked.

"Well… I can't work on his truck," I answered as I threw the surgical mask behind me. "Why don't you unpack and get ready for the job while I greet our client?"

He nodded then frowned and said, "I'm sorry, Mia."

I heaved out a heavy sigh before giving him an easy smile. "This is so not your fault, but thank you for the sentiment, George."

His eyes went wide as he asked, "Whoa! What did I do to offend you?"

"What?"

"Rat. Please, never call me anything but Rat."

That did the trick. I started laughing, so when I knocked on Eli's door I was finally feeling more at ease. I never would have thought I would say this, but Rat had really become a friend. More so than most of the guys from the MC. And I really felt content knowing that.

"Mia. Great, I was really hoping you would be here to work on my truck."

I smiled and answered, "Here? Yes. But it will be my good friend Rat doing the actual work today." Eli gave me a worried look, so I point to my stitches and explained, "I can't risk getting them greasy. Doc says they'll come out soon, so I can start pulling my weight again once they're gone."

Rat then joined us, so Eli passed him his keys saying, "Just yell when you're done."

"Yes, sir."

Once we were alone again, Eli nodded towards his front door saying, "Speaking of your stitches, I just got an update about that situation if you have a minute."

I spared a glance over my shoulder to check that Rat was on task before I answered, "For you, LT, I have as many minutes as you need."

He then led me into the living room and asked, "Can I get you anything?"

"Only if you want to have to clean it out of our carpet." I laughed at the shocked look on his face. "My stomach gets queasy whenever I think about anything to do with Patrick Telford."

"That is more than understandable." Eli passed me a manila folder and explained, "We just recently found where he had been staying and after searching it, we've been able to fill in a lot of the blanks."

I sifted through the evidence photos of a motel room that didn't quite make sense. There was one of a wall of photos that had my dad and JC circled in more than one of them. The others had pictures of Patrick's personal belongings, including a copy of Hitler's "Mein Kampf".

"So? He was a Nazi?" I asked as I closed the folder and moved to pass it back to Eli.

"Not quite. From what we can tell, it… I mean, your attack, was most likely his initiation."

"Really? So, does that…?"

"You put him down before he could hurt anyone else." He traded the folder for a couple of tissues then added, "You didn't hear it from me, but you did the world a favor."

I smiled at him saying, "Gotta show those crackers they don't know shit." He coughed out a laugh, but still didn't look like he fully understood what I meant. "I hate that my ethnic blood isn't more obvious. Hopefully one day it won't be true for my ancestors."

XXXXXXX

When Rat and I got back to TS, it looked like Bobby was just dropping Gemma off, so I turned to Rat and said, "We might have more service calls, so keep my truck. Just bring it to the ice cream shop when you're done for the day."

"Are you sure?"

I tried to give him a strong smile as I replied, "Yeah, I can't do my job until these fucking stitches are out and I know the cut is properly healed, so I won't get in your guys' way. Letting you use my truck is the least I can do. Just tell Gemma you passed on babysitter duties onto Bobby."

"Mia, we don't…"

"Sure, you do. It's fine. Really, Rat. Just don't scratch my truck or…"

"I'll be feeling it. Got it."

Bobby was placing his helmet back on his head, so I hurried my steps as I rushed towards him and called out, "BOBBY! WAIT UP!"

"Oh, hey there, Beautiful. Something I can help you with?"

I picked up a spare helmet off a neighboring bike answering, "A ride to the new clubhouse would be great."

"Really? But I thought…"

"Until the stitches are out, I can't actually work on a vehicle. I'd rather not have it rubbed in my face by staying here."

"Oh Sweetheart…"

"Please, don't. Just get me away from here."

"Of course. Hop on."

Once I had myself wrapped around his torso, Bobby hugged my arms that were circling his waist and asked, "Are you going to be okay, Mia?"

"Just a few more days and these stupid stitches will be taken out. Ask me again then."

I don't know what bobby was thinking, but he didn't take me straight to the new clubhouse. Instead, we ended up cruising around the streets of Charming. I easily settled in behind him, but it didn't quite feel right. My cheek didn't fit between his shoulder blades perfectly like it did with JC. My nose didn't tuck into the crook of his neck comfortably like it did with JC. As comforting as the ride was supposed to be, it nearly brought me to tears because it just reminded me of all the things I didn't have in my life anymore. It reminded me how I was once again feeling like the odd one out again after nearly a year of feeling like I had found my place in the puzzle that we call life.

Bobby eased his bike into its parking space as he called out, "You feeling a bit better, beautiful?"

"Of course, I am," I lied with a surprising amount of ease. "Thanks for the ride."

We fell into step, side by side, to cross the street towards the ice cream parlor. Once we were halfway across the street, Rat met us and passed me the keys to my truck.

"Jax needs us at St. Thomas."

That was all we needed to hear to get us to rush to our vehicles so that we could all meet up at the hospital. I hung back from the guys but stayed as close as I could without interfering or feeling like I would trip them up. From what I could hear, it sounded like Gemma had assaulted Tara and I think I heard something about a miscarriage.

What the fuck?

As horrific as it sounded, the reality of it all didn't hit me until we made it to Tara's office. Jax rushed in to comfort her and I caught a glimpse of her on the floor while framed through Chibs' and Bobby's silhouettes. There was so much blood that it felt like that's all I could see when Jax scooped her up into his arms. He only had eyes for her and trying to soothe away some of her pain.

I slowly backed away from the door to try to block the image from my mind. No one seemed to notice my retreat, so I let my feet pick up speed as I moved through the halls. I think Eli called out my name wen I rushed past him, but I can't say for certain because I didn't slow down to find out. I was too focused on running to my truck to try to put as much space between me and the gruesome image I had just witnessed in Tara's office