Brenda Barrett. Brenda Barrett. She chewed on the name. She had only been Brenda Jacks for a few months, the first of any of her friends to do so, and yet they were happily married or about to be while she was filling out the final divorce papers. Jax hadn't contested, but then why would he? She was no longer the dream he had longed for. Once reality set in that this was as good as he got, he was more than ready to cut his losses. Finally the bruises had gone away. There had been moments when she had thought they never would, that she would be walking around with them forever. Why had she waited so long?

She gazed at her growing stomach in amazement, still not sure how something good could have come out of her sham of a marriage. Four months. That's what remained of her pregnancy. She couldn't believe so much time had passed. When asked about her baby's paternity, she had told her lawyer it was the result of an affair, something she wouldn't have minded testifying in court if her soon-to-be-ex-husband ever got suspicious.

The knock at the door broke through her reverie and she felt her heart jump into her throat. "Brenda, are you there?" Lucas, she realized. Lucas was here. She hurried to the door and pulled it open, her relieved smile slipping the moment she noticed how haggard her friend looked.

"Lucas, what—?" Instead of answering her, he hugged her. Five months along or not, Lucas was a lot bigger than she was and she worried she might suffocate under such a strong embrace.

"I didn't know where else to go." He admitted, releasing her and stepping into the tiny apartment. It was just a stopover until she could get mobile again, something she had been willing to do the moment she found out about the baby. Only logic and Lucas's plea that she not go had kept her here this long. He hadn't thought she should runaway when Jax was the one at fault and she had friends here who loved her and would take care of her. Mostly, he admitted, he was too selfish to let her go.

"Is it Lance?" Brenda couldn't think of anything else that could startle her friend so efficiently. Had something gone wrong with the transplant? Was the kidney not strong enough? In a two-second span of time, a million and one questions raced through her mind, each causing her to take in quick, unsteady breaths.

"His mother." Lucas stated quickly, his eyes jerking away from hers.

"Sage? What about her? Has she done something to Lance?"

"Lance is fine." Lucas snapped and then shook his head. "Sage was killed in a plane crash. Her cousin, Diego called a little while ago to tell me about it."

"Oh Lucas I'm sorry." Brenda moved to hug him again, but he walked around her.

"I keep thinking that if I hadn't asked her to come for Lance, she would still be alive. It's not like she was a match anyway. A favor that she ended up paying a hundred times over. She told me. She told me that it was too dangerous for her to come here, but I wouldn't listen. I just kept pushing and pushing until she had no other choice but to break." Lucas chided himself, tears collecting in his mocha eyes.

"From what I've seen of Sage, she doesn't seem the pushover type to me." Brenda offered carefully.

"If I hadn't made her come, she would still be alive."

"You don't know that. If she was meant to die, it would have found her one way or another."

"Don't give me that nonsense." Lucas retorted crossly. "I brought here, I cost her the only life she knew, and for what? For what?"

"For your son." Brenda reminded him. "Lance. Remember him? I know you're upset, but you're missing the big picture here. Yes, there were risks involved in her coming here and she knew that. She wouldn't have made the trip if she hadn't felt some moral obligation to Lance. It's impossible not to love him. I won't have you accusing yourself of something you had no control over."

When he looked like he might continue his tirade, she went on, "I'm sorry that Sage is dead. I only met her the one time and she seemed like a nice girl. But Lucas, your son's life was hanging in the balance. What other choice did you have but to beg her to come? Do you think it would have been better to lose him?"

"How can you ask me that question?" Lucas demanded, pacing the room, his eyes focused on the carpet.

"If I don't, who will? Lance was the most important factor and no matter what happened afterwards, he's well. He's going to be fine. You did everything you could to make that happen. Please." She walked in front of him and tilted his head back so that he had no choice but to meet her eyes. "Please don't let your grief erase all the good that has finally happened. It's not fair to your family or to you." By the end of her argument, she was crying too.

"Thank you." Lucas whispered, blinking furiously.

"It's what best friends are for, right? Now get over here and do what you've been wanting to do since you found out about the kid." Brenda challenged, choking on her laugh because her throat was so hoarse. Rolling his eyes, Lucas reached over and rubbed her stomach.

*****

It was odd being able to shut the door, Cruz mused as he sat behind his desk. He had actual walls. A window that wasn't the front of the building. Becca would really have to let him know who was there to see him; he could no longer just look up over the sea of other desks. If this was what success looked like, Cruz decided he liked it.

Moving had been a far more complicated process than he had expected. After all The Insider had nothing. No more than his usual skeleton staff, all be it one that was more loyal than usual. A few desks. Some darkroom equipment. The computers. The fax. The scanner. A day, two days top he had planned. Somehow it had evolved into an entire week.

Not that he was complaining. Far from it. He would be lying if he said he had always imagined this moment when he took over The Insider. If he was going to be honest with himself, he had never really seen them being anything more than a cult local magazine. The fact they were as popular as they were still blew his mind

The light knocking at his door, shook him from his thoughts. "Come in," he called, grinning with ridiculous pride at the fact he now had to ask people to enter his office. Office. He felt his grin grow even wider. He had an office.

"Someone looks better." Bobbie teased, closing the door behind her. She walked around the desk and sat on the windowsill.

"Must be the company." Cruz shrugged walking over to join his wife.

"I somehow doubt that." Bobbie countered, tugging at a loose red strand and tucking it behind her ear. "This place is so big, I almost got lost."

"I'll have Axe draw you a map."

"Can you have Becca translate it into English? Axe is a bit difficult to understand sometimes."

"She'll try. She told me once sometimes she just nods and pretends to understand him."

"Isn't this amazing?" she asked.

"I do like the view." Cruz smirked, his eyes never leaving her face.

"Ha! You had the same view before." Bobbie reasoned.

"No this one is much better." Cruz laughed, rubbing his cheek against her hair.

"Shouldn't you be working Mr. President?"

"It's my office. Who's going to know?"

"Especially with the closed door and everything."

"A door was a deal breaker. No door, I wasn't moving."

"I had an epiphany earlier. You want to hear it?"

"I always love your epiphanies."

"You get to hire new employees...again."

"There is nothing new about that…"

"Oh yes there is." She argued, fastening the top button on his shirt. "You get to be choosy this time. No castoffs, just professionals. And they all have to listen to you."

"For them to all listen to me, I'll have to fire my current staff." Cruz pointed out, stilling her hands.

"Or you could start a rumor that this is all that's left of your original staff. Maybe they were lazy about deadlines and you fired them because you mean business."

"Bobbie I love you but we just moved offices. I didn't suddenly change personalities."

"You take all the fun out of things." Bobbie pouted.

Cruz laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist. "There is an upside you're ignoring."

"I can't wait to hear this."

"You see, there is one very distinct feature that our previous space lacked."

"What's that?"

"Take a guess."

"Working in a quieter space because Axe finally quits whining about not having an office?"

"Try again."

Bobbie gulped when she noticed how much closer he suddenly was. "Privacy."

"You are so very smart."