Well, it's been a while, but hey. Life seems to be like that lately! Special thanks to Zickachik who braved this over lack of sleep, kid sitting, and work in general. I appreciate it - this was a monster.

Disclaimer: The usual.

When I walked in through the door, Two-Bit glanced up from where he was sitting on the couch and looked completely relieved. I ignored him as I went down the hall to the bathroom because I was not going to sit in the same room with him and I wasn't going to look utterly silly by walking right back out again.

"Listen, Pass…"

"Two-Bit, I'm not really up for a talk right now," I told him, running a hand through my hair.

"I know you're still mad at me," he sighed. "I have no idea why, but from what I know about chicks, that doesn't matter much."

"Two-Bit," I sighed.

"No, seriously, Pass –"

"I'm not mad at you."

"And I…You're not?" he asked looking confused.

"No. I had a chat with Davy this morning," I told him. "He pointed out to me that there was no point in being mad at you for having an opinion and my best interests at heart."

I turned to look at him and gave him a half-smile.

"I'm glad you have Davy to talk me out of trouble," he offered.

"Well, you're my best friend these days, Two-Bit." I shrugged, turning back to the mirror. "And you're just doing your best in a strange situation."

"Wow." Two-Bit paused and gave a frown. "I don't think I've ever has a best friend before."

"Well, there's one thing I've got on you then." I shrugged again.

"You grow up with a little thing in pigtails you babbled all your secrets to?" He asked with a smile that managed to kill any hint of a smirk I had before.

"No. I had Ross."

He didn't know what to say to that. So he didn't say anything at all.

"That was when we saw each other. There were Christmas and summer vacations, but his mom didn't move him with her to New York permanently until we were eight," I told him, feeling uncharacteristically revealing. "That was a full year before I lost my family and ended up living with Granny Winston. I saw him a lot then until one day when he got hauled off to prison. They told Granny, she got mad, had a heart attack, and I was in the state home for the next four months before I ended up in Missouri with my aunt."

I looked back over at where Two-Bit looked sad. For me. I wondered if anyone ever looked sad for him.

"After that, I was on my own. Then I found Sam two years ago, and now I have Ross again."

"Damn, Pass," he said, rubbing a hand over his face and I shrugged.

"Everyone has a sob story," I replied. "Mine just covers a bigger period."

He nodded and I finished combing out my hair with my fingers. It was far too long and I would have to cut it off again so it was manageable. Two-Bit just watched. Before I had gotten to know him, I would have been uncomfortable with him being there. I was comfortable now. It was another thing that I would have to let go of to get out of Tulsa. Not that I wanted to think about that today. Today was the day before the big day, and I just wanted to enjoy myself, like Davy suggested.

"The state people are going to be at my uncle's tomorrow," I told him.

"Already?" Two-Bit asked and I wondered if I had even mentioned it before.

"Yes." I nodded. "But today…I want to go and take a walk in the park."

"A walk in the park?" Two-Bit raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded.

"Yes. We can bring a ball for Sam, some sandwiches, a book…" I shrugged, not knowing what else was brought to the park. "Unless, you don't want to. I could go on my own –"

"No, it's fine. I've just never spent a day in the park before." He frowned.

"Well, I used to spend my days in parks just sitting under trees and sorting through my things," I told him. "It's a nice way to spend the day."

Two-Bit smiled and nodded. "Well, it must be if you say so, Pass."

The park turned out to be an interesting experience. After an hour of walking, throwing the ball, talking, and just taking in the scenery, Two-Bit had decided to fall asleep under one of the trees. That was fine. Sam and I just sat beside him, me reading and Sam panting. The day was warm and I was glad Two-Bit had suggested we bring something to drink. By the time he woke up, the sun was setting and it was apparently dinnertime. I had the sneaking suspicion that Two-Bit's internal clock was directly attached to his stomach. As it was, we walked in right on time for dinner.

It was later that night that I showed up back at my uncle's place. He'd looked up when I wandered in and gave me a glare, but we didn't speak. So I spent the night in Ross' room without interruption. Two-Bit would have preferred that I stayed the night with his friends again, but I was fine here. Tomorrow morning the social worker would be here to check in on me. I just hoped it wasn't the guy who I had to talk to after they removed me from under the bridge. And to be honest, I was nervous about it. I was conflicted about what to say. Did I tell the truth and get myself taken back to the state home or did I do what Jebb wanted? In the end, it would be easier to take off on Jebb than from under the noses of multiple state employees. But getting to the end would be the hard part. Davy promised to help. Until then, there was just getting through tomorrow.

The next morning, I expected peace and quiet in the house, because I doubted that Jebb would want to get into a fight before the state people came. So when I woke up to raised voices, I was surprised. I wasn't sure who was fighting when I crept out into the hall, but I wasn't expecting Ross and Jebb to be standing toe to toe in the living room. I blinked in surprise.

"You get the hell out, boy," Jebb growled at Ross.

"Now, why would I do that?" Ross growled right back.

"What's going on?" I asked, but neither of them even looked my way.

"You little shit." Jebb took a step closer to Ross.

"Come on, old man," Ross taunted. "You can do better than that."

Jebb glared, looking like he was getting as mad as I'd ever seen him. Ross was looking cocky, like he was taunting his father on purpose for some reason. I'd been hit by Jebb before and I didn't see the appeal.

"Ross?" I tried.

"Shut up," Ross ordered.

That seemed to bring Jebb back to earth a little. He glanced at me and then at Ross with a slight smirk.

"I don't know what you're up to, boy, but nothing is going to go wrong today," Jebb said evenly. "That goes for you, too. Make sure this place is clean."

And with that, Jebb turned towards the front door and was gone a minute later. Ross didn't even glance my way, before flopping down on the couch and picking up one of the open bottles of beer. He sniffed it before drinking, turning his attention to where the TV was still on.

"Ross?" I asked, really confused by what was going on.

"Go do your hair or something, will ya?" He kicked his feet up on the coffee table, mud flecking onto the surface. "I'm watching TV."

"Why were you fighting with Jebb?" I asked only to be ignored. So I stepped in front of the TV and repeated my question.

"Why am I fighting with Jebb?" he reiterated and I nodded, holding my ground, even though Ross looked agitated. "Because he deserved it."

"Deserved it?" I asked, not knowing what he meant by that.

I could think of a lot of things Jebb had done, but no one thing in particular that would have started a fight between the two. Then again, I hadn't seen the two of them together in a very long time. In fact, the last time I had seen it, Ross and I were eight and Jebb was chasing after Ross to beat him for something or another. I was in on whatever the trouble was, but Daddy just picked me up, shook his head, and told me that I really shouldn't have done whatever it was I had done. Then he'd said I'd better not do it again or he was going to let Granny Winston smack me with the spoon. She was pretty mean with that.

"He's making us go along with all this for a little bit more drinking money."

Ross' look was serious, amused, and unimpressed all at the same time. I didn't really understand him anymore. Now, more than ever, I was really aware that we weren't kids anymore.

"Even you have to know that he's only keeping you around for the money."

I glanced at Ross. He was trying to get under my skin, to make me feel bad about myself so I would put distance between us. He looked utterly untouchable. But I knew no one was.

"I know. What I can't figure out is why he's keeping you around."

Ross stiffened and gave me a look that was utterly dangerous. He straightened up on the couch and set his beer down. A moment later he was on his feet and stalking over to where I was rooted to the spot, feeling a lot less tough than I had a moment ago. He wasn't tall, but he loomed over me, blonde hair hanging in his face, cold blue eyes putting a hole right through me.

"You'd better watch that mouth of yours. Believe me; you won't like it around here without me keepin' you under my watch."

I wanted to tell him that I didn't need any one taking care of me. But I knew better. I hit a nerve and I did feel bad. It always seemed like us Winstons had a bad habit of hurting each other over everyone else.

Ross leaned away, turning back towards the couch before flopping down and hooking his boot off the arm of it. More mud hit the floor.

I left the room then. Jebb was serious when he said he wanted to see the house clean. He was new to this inspection business, but he was on the right track. A house couldn't be too clean when an official came. They just looked deeper. A surface clean, some clutter and an obvious attempt to shove loose things in the closet was best. It said that we were confident in ourselves and we were just tolerating these people entering our space. It was the ultimate sign of adjustment. It was what they wanted to see. The dishes washed, the laundry folded but left out, the floors swept, but the counters spotting coffee grounds… Ross and his dirty boots were just the icing to the cake.

By the time the house looked just between its usual mess and clean, Jebb was back from wherever he had taken off to and Ross was still sitting on the couch, holding onto the last beer bottle so I wouldn't toss it out with the others. He was silent throughout the whole ordeal of my cleaning up and I had the feeling he was planning on staying that way until he could cause the most damage. He and Del were definitely related.

Finally there was a knock on the front door. Ross looked up, taking another swig of his beer, but not moving otherwise, and Jebb motioned for me to get it. Jumping up, I did just that. Once the door was open, I froze.

What kind of a social worker was at least six and a half feet tall and muscled enough to break Darry in half?

"My name is James Tallowate, Oklahoma State Child Services and Family Welfare Department. You can call me Mr. Tallowate."

I nodded, motioning him in, since my voice seemed to have disappeared somewhere between my throat and my mouth. He looked around like he thought the whole place was absolutely disgusting before finally looking down at me again.

"You are Jocelyn De Moncreiffe Winston?" I nodded dumbly, wondering when the last time I had heard my whole name was.

I wasn't fond of my name. Marie Jocelyn de Moncreiffe was my grandmother's name. My parents named me for her in hopes of an inheritance. As far as I knew, I inherited a name and a bunch of porcelain dolls.

"Your uncle is home?" He continued and I nodded, gesturing towards where Jebb was sitting in his chair, looking like the king of the living room. "Mr. Winston, I am Mr. Tallowate."

Jebb nodded, getting up and offering his hand, looking challenging. It was pointless since Mr. Tallowate could take him in a fight pretty easily.

"Come on in."

Mr. Tallowate didn't move. I didn't blame him – Jebb's invitation was anything but inviting. He simply looked Jebb over and then Ross, making mental notes, even though he had a clipboard tucked under his arm.

"I would like to take a look around, if that is alright with you?" Even I could tell he was asking by courtesy.

"Sure." Jebb shrugged, sitting back down. "Help yourself."

"I'd like to have a tour of the house before I speak with the minor alone. Jocelyn will show me around," Mr. Tallowate ordered and I nodded. "Kitchen first, bedroom last."

I nodded again, gesturing him towards the kitchen. The inspection went like I expected, him picking up on everything that was normal, probably noting everything abnormal, like the scorch marks on the wall from the dryer that just wouldn't come off. All the while he frowned, which made me nervous. I wasn't any more at ease when we went back towards the bedrooms. He glanced at the bare walls, the worn floors and the chipped baseboards. I was starting to get nervous. This one noticed too much, I was sure of it. He barely offered Jebb's room and the bathroom a glance.

"Uh," I paused Ross' door. "This is Ross' room, but I've been sleeping in here."

"Ross?" He asked, looking over his papers.

"My cousin. I call him that."

"I see," he muttered, making a note, before walking in the room.

He stood at the end of the double bed, looking around like seeing everything Ross owned was nothing out of the ordinary. He looked around, probably seeing all the glaring places where Ross' things were displayed and none of mine. Even the folded laundry wasn't mine. In fact, all I owned in the room, beyond the clothes on my back, was my long jacket, which was hooked on the back of the door and out of view. Mr. Tallowate looked around, pushing the door closed and sat down on the bed, motioning that I could too, if I wanted. So I gingerly sat up by the pillows, wary of the big man.

"How do you like living with your uncle?" He asked right off the bat and I blinked.

"It's not so bad. Better than living with my Aunt June," I offered.

"You have privacy? You have been treated fairly in your own opinion?"

I nodded. Aside from the money, I had been left alone completely.

"If you are sleeping in here, where is your cousin residing?"

"Uh…on the couch or at a friends house," I replied, wondering how he got away with being so forward.

"Is there anything about this environment that makes you uncomfortable? That can be anything in the house or the attitudes of your uncle and cousin."

"I don't think so," I replied, thinking that Jebb and Ross were both uncomfortable to be around, Ross more than ever lately.

"You feel you're adjusting, then?"

"I think so. I haven't been here long." I shrugged.

Especially if you counted the fact I was living with Ross over at Buck's when I wasn't crashing somewhere with Two-Bit.

"Tell me about a normal day for you," he suggested and I nodded.

"I usually get up and cook breakfast. I leave a note when I use something up," I added, thinking about how Buck never shopped. "Then I usually go and see Sam."

"Who is Sam?"

"My dog," I replied and Mr. Tallowate looked suspicious. "He bothers my uncle's allergies, so my friend is letting him stay at his house."

Which was a lie. I just did not want Jebb to even have the chance to look at Sam wrong.

"You've made friends, then?"

"Yes. At least two," I added, thinking of Davy and Two-Bit.

"What do you do after seeing Sam?" He redirected the conversation and I shrugged.

"It depends on who's working, but I'll find someone to spend the day with until work."

"What do you do?"

I thought on how to answer that. I couldn't tell him I handed over drinks at Buck's place. Even I knew that was illegal for several different reasons. So I went with something safe.

"I wash dishes."

"And you plan to wash dishes for the rest of your life?" I shook my head and he leveled me with a serious look. "What about school?"

I ducked my head. I hadn't been to school since I was nine. June decided it was a drain on society and there were things I could do at home that were much more useful. So I could read and write some, but aside from that, I was uneducated.

"I'd never be able to go," I told him evenly. "So it hasn't really been an issue."

"You should consider it, even if it is just basic reading and writing," he stated, not pressing it any further. "From what I've seen, you seem to be surviving here. If that changes, I want you to give me a call."

A printed card was under my nose with his name and work phone number on one side, another ink written number on the back beside a small box with a triangle on top that represented a house.

"I will be back for a scheduled visit in two weeks. I also make unscheduled ones," he added. "Do not mention that to your uncle."

I nodded, slipping the card in my pocket as Mr. Tallowate got up, straightening the suit jacket he was wearing.

"I have one last question." I nodded and he continued. "Why did you come to Tulsa?"

I blinked. No one had asked me that. It was obvious that if I were looking for family, I'd have gone to New York where my Grandparents had lived and all my aunts and uncles were born. It was unlikely I would have known Jebb was in Tulsa or that I would seek him out, especially if I was squatting under a bridge. Mr. Tallowate was far too sharp.

"I was just passing through," I offered. "Everything after that was chance."

"I see," he replied, not looking like he believed it, but willing to go along with it.

He opened the door and walked out then. I followed him back down the hall to the living room where Jebb and Ross were both ignoring each other. Mr. Tallowate leveled Jebb with a dangerous look that I could tell put my uncle on edge.

"This is still a conditional placement," he stated. "With your record and your son's record, I will not tolerate one slip. I will be back at the end of the month."

The last part was a threat, no matter how thinly veiled. Jebb nodded, like he wasn't an idiot or something, and Mr. Tallowate kept his gaze to make sure the message sunk in. He turned the same gaze on Ross, who ignored him in favor of the TV. I knew him, though, he was listening.

"Any questions or concerns and I can be reached in my office," he added. "It was nice to meet you, Jocelyn."

"You too," I added, letting him shake my hand in his huge, warm one.

Ross snorted and Mr. Tallowate sent him a hard look before he turned to leave. We were all silent when he was gone, listening for the engine of his car. Once it was well down the road, Jebb stood and gave me the harshest look yet.

"What did you tell him?"

"Nothing!" I replied automatically. "Nothing that meant anything!"

"Well, if that's settled, we should get going," Ross spoke up, standing.

"You aren't going anywhere, especially not with her!" Jebb growled.

"Try and stop me, Pop."

The challenge was clear and it was Jebb's turn to accept or give up. I turned back down the hall for my coat, thinking that either way, I wasn't going to be here when they figured it out. I walked past them both again, letting them have their stand off as I marched out of the house. I was just about to turn down the block when Davy shouted my name. I waited for him.

"How'd it go?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Smartest, biggest, toughest social worker I have ever met." I shook my head.

"Could be worse," Davy offered. "For your victory, I propose lunch."

"Lunch?" I asked and he grinned.

I glanced over his shoulder at where Ross was leaning against Buck's car, watching, and I shook my head.

"I'd love to, but something tells me Ross will kill me if I try and walk off with you. And I kinda owe him for getting me out of there."

As silly as it sounded, I was willing to bet he was in my corner the whole time. He had a funny way of showing it, but he was looking out for me, even when I pushed him away.

"He has nothing to worry about."

"I know, but he's Ross, and I think I hurt his feelings earlier."

Davy looked like he wanted to make a joke or say something mean against Ross having feelings, but held off, for which I was grateful.

"I'll catch up with you later, then," he offered and I smiled at him.

"Thanks Davy, for everything."

"No need to thank me." He smirked, walking in the direction we had been heading before Ross caught my eye.

All in all, the day could have gone much worse. It was no walk in the park, but it could have been worse, and I knew I owed that to Ross.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter - I love Mr. Tallowate (A cookie to whomever knows which of my other stories he is a character in). Hopefully everyone else got a kick out of it.

Any comments at all are welcome and flames accepted.

See ya in the funny papers!!

Tens & Zickachik