A/N: Not sure if Amanda is an aggressive drunk but people do and say things when drunk that they wouldn't think of when sober. On that same note, I'm sure Johnny would never aggressively put his hands on a woman but all logic goes out the window when someone anyone cares about is hurt.

"What in… the hell?" Ivory asked after regaining consciousness and finding himself in the hospital, carefully turning his head to the left because of the neck brace and seeing he was in Las Venturas.

"You… are very lucky to have survived that. I was beginning to think you were dead." Ivory heard, footsteps following and him seeing his cousin, 27 year old Alessio Smith.

"I almost was… that bitch went too damn far, now I want her dead. Has our… friend from Liberty called back yet?" Ivory says.

"He says he'll help on one condition… we find his former underboss." Alessio says.

"Done… now you take it from here. You know where to lure her to." Ivory says, Alessio leaving.

It had been hours after that when Ivory was watching the news… a look of disappointment on his face after finding out that Alessio had been killed on top of Mount Chiliad…

It was more than disappointment though… it intensified his anger towards Carly...

"Did you kill him, tiny?" Noah asks after walking downstairs into the basement… it had been nearly an hour and Ivory still hasn't regained consciousness, Ashley and Jackie having returned upstairs.

Carly leaned in… but instead of checking for a pulse, she slapped Ivory awake, Ivory screaming out in slight pain and anger.

"Fuck you, Carly Jade!" Ivory yells.

"That ain't your job, Ivory." Carly retorted, backhanding Ivory across the face and busting his mouth open, making Ivory scream again.

"Are you gonna just stand there and let her beat the hell out of me?!" Ivory demands after turning to Noah.

"I don't have any reason to help you. I don't even know you, all I know is that you've hurt someone who didn't deserve it." Noah says.

"Well, here's something that might change your mind… your former boss knows you're here in LS-" Ivory says, Noah snapping and lunging at Ivory, who struggled to breathe as Noah strangled him.

"Noah, calm the fuck down!" Carly yells, managing to pull Noah off of Ivory… and then kicking a knife out of Ivory's tied up hands.

"Worth a shot…" Ivory manages to say after catching his breath. "As for deserving pain, it's justified when she aligned herself with-" He says, cut off by Carly slamming the crowbar into his left knee and screaming in agony as a sickening crack echoed around the room. Noah taped Ivory's mouth shut and took Carly upstairs.

"Now who's having trouble keeping their anger controlled?" Noah asks sarcastically, Carly looking at him.

"What I want to know is who the hell was he talking about that made you lose it… it ain't damn nice when your past comes back but I'd rather be prepared than walk into a trap like a lamb dressed for the slaughter." Carly says.

Noah and Carly sat down and Noah explained everything that happened back in Liberty City from him being an underboss to him being betrayed and nearly killed, Carly listening intently.

"If the son of a bitch really does know where I am, chances are that he's been following me for a while… and could've easily figured out who you and Johnny are, depending on the information received from Ivory. Carly, I'd hate to put you in any kind of danger, he's not someone you mess with." Noah says.

"Sounds like he and Trevor would get along with each other… or kill each other." Carly says, Noah chuckling slightly. He had only known Carly for a few days and already, he was starting to like her slightly twisted sense of humor.

Outside, Ashley was leaned against the wall of the clubhouse when Jack showed up with Sam.

"I take it Dad's still-" Sam says.

"Tied up in his office, yeah… and I ended up finding out that he's not actually my dad, Brad was." Ashley says.

"Brad… never survived that bank job. I was just a bit younger than Carly when I saw it happen… only reason I don't remember it completely is because my skull was fractured when I was 6." Sam says, Ashley turning shocked.

"What psychopath fractures a kid's skull?!" Ashley asks.

"Wasn't really a psycho… me and my cousin Russell were playing in the snow one day when someone shot him twice at point blank range… he was about 15 when he died." Sam says, Ashley instinctively pulling Sam into a hug when tears formed in Sam's eyes.

What they didn't know what that Carly, Noah and Johnny had heard them, Johnny having made sure Ivory was still tied up before joining the other two and Carly closing her eyes for a few seconds.

"Russell was a… childhood friend of mine in Ludendorff. I remember hearing about his death on the news 7 years ago. I… like Sam, most of my childhood memories are more like fragments nowadays… but hearing about Russell being killed is too damn significant to forget." Carly says.

"Friends become like family after a while… especially when your own family starts to fall apart." Noah says, Carly looking at him curiously. "Only one of your parents was at the hospital for you after our car was smashed into.I take it your mom and you are on bad terms with each other." He says.

"That doesn't even begin to describe it… when she found out about me being involved in the hospital shooting, she didn't care that it was self defense… something snapped inside her mind and Amanda stopped treating me like I was her child and started treating me like I was her damn punching bag." Carly says, Noah seeing a small scar on the side of Carly's left wrist.

"That's for staying out late and acting like a stupid little whore!" Amanda yelled drunkenly after smashing Carly's left arm against the granite kitchen countertop, a sickening cracking sound echoing from the 15 year old's left arm… what Amanda didn't know what that someone had heard Carly screaming in pain.

Amanda screamed out as she was thrown to the floor, looking up and seeing Johnny running to Carly, who was cradling her broken arm towards her body, Johnny turning to Amanda.

"I'm not normally violent… but I will protect the ones who are family to me. Next time you try to hurt your own daughter, think about what I've said to you." Johnny says before taking Carly out of the house and putting her in the passenger seat of The Lost MC van, carefully hugging Carly before buckling her into the seat and closing the door.

It was when Johnny was driving away from the house that Carly looked at him, Johnny seeing that he had given her hope for a stable life away from the woman she once considered to be a good mother.

"Thank you… I don't know what I'd do without you, John." Carly says, her voice soft but Johnny heard her clearly.

"No one has any right to hurt you… no matter what they think." Johnny says, lightly squeezing Carly's right hand for a few seconds before continuing to drive towards Mount Zonah...