Assured that Nero was alright and resting in his room, Nina slipped out, leaving Natasha in the room with her grandfather. She glanced up and down along the corridor, ascertaining that there was nobody else haunting around, and made her way back to the waiting room. There were still plenty of club members haunting around, and she gave Happy a slight kick in the shin, motioning over her shoulder with her eyes to tell him to go to Natasha.

He picked up her signal and slipped out. Before Dmitri could notice their dual absence, she shifted herself to his side. Although Nina had felt an unending hatred towards the man since he had made Natasha leave with him, she forced a pleasant smile and linked arms with him with controlled affection.

"It's good to see you," she said quietly. "It's been a while."

"Almost a year, myshka," he murmured. "Since… well, you know." He glanced across towards Chibs as he sat with his feet up, staring at a television screen and resting Kaya along his chest and belly. The little baby was smiling sweetly as she slept, the rhythm of his heartbeat making her feel safe.

"And you know we're grateful for her," Nina said quickly. She pushed her hair back from her eyes, revealing the dark scars on her face from her life with SAMCRO. Dmitri's nostrils flared for a moment as he studied her.

"You have a better life now. Less dangerous. She deserves that," he added, gesturing towards Kaya. Nina had to nod in agreement, and he chuckled. "Natasha too." He moved to look around for her and Nina twisted to block his view, needing to distract him.

"She's just with Daddy," she said quickly. "Is she… okay, Dimi? You and her?"

Dmitri wasn't quite sure what the question meant but he read it in the worst way. He grinned, a deviant smile on his lips as he brushed his hair away from his face. "Once she was over her, she's been most excellent." Nina felt bile rush up into her throat as he continued. "She's not quite you, though, myshka. That night we spent…" He broke into a smile. "That still haunts my thoughts. Sometimes when I'm with her. You know how to please a man."

It took everything within Nina to quell her violent urge to punch the smug grin off his face. God, how had she ever got it so wrong with this guy? He had presented himself as a good man and had wanted to protect her and her children, but his methods were not what she had expected at all.

"Does she miss her?" She was staring at Kaya as she spoke, and Dmitri followed her eye. He pursed his lips for a moment.

"What does it matter? She's yours now. Fatherhood suits Filip, you should have given him the opportunity before."

Nina grimaced. "Things are not easy," she said curtly. He laughed.

"No, they're not." He leaned towards her conspiratorially as he added, "But we want to make sure nobody gets hurt, don't we?"

Happy's knuckles grazed the door gently and he saw Natasha unfolding herself from her seat by Nero's bedside. She checked behind him as he came in, half-expecting Pelekov to be right on his tail, but she swallowed and stood politely when she realised they were alone.

"Hap."

He was eyeballing her, she could feel it even without looking at him. The way he was staring, he was imagining her bare and against him, she could just tell. She wrapped her arms around herself absently, feeling exposed, and she shook her head as he started to take a step forward.

"You can't," she murmured. Her voice was soft, he had forgotten how beautiful it sounded in his ears. Seeing her was too much, he needed to touch her. It was the worst form of torture to only stare at her from a distance.

"Nobody's here," he insisted, approaching against her will. "I just need to hold you."

"You can't," she reiterated. "I'm not yours any more, Hap."

"Of course you are." The words were blunt and heavy as he said them. "You're my old lady, there's no denying that. That Russian prick's a stumbling block."

"Don't say that." Natasha was shaking her head. She drew herself up, holding herself tightly and trying to empower herself when all she wanted to do was crumble into him in relief. "Dimi's looking after me."

"Dimi?" Happy said it with a sneer. She was less than a foot away from him and all he wanted to do was drag her against him, kiss her, let his mouth overpower hers and win her back in that instant. He was craving her, that was impossible to ignore. "That man's a selfish piece of shit, Tash."

She grew defensive, her expression growing dark. "Don't say that," she said quietly. Her green eyes flicked over him, trying to mark every feature of his to her memory so she couldn't possibly forget it. "I'm only with him because of you."

Happy knew it all too well. He wiped his hand across his mouth and settled on the end of the bed, nudging Nero's feet out of his way to make space. He crouched over, his feet planted on the floor, and gazed out of the window mournfully.

"You don't understand," he said, trying to rationalise it in his own head. He had practiced this so many times, he knew what he wanted to say but having her there, gazing at him with an uncomfortable sort of contempt, it made all of his preparation disappear almost instantly. "I never-"

More confident now, Natasha shook her head. "Don't try and explain it to me, Hap, I know what happened. You lost your shite with Tig and wanted him dead, and you called on the wrong guy to do it." She hated that she still felt so mad about it, her chest was tight as she started to pace. "You would have traded my Ma in. Just so you could get one up on him."

Happy's eyes flitted up to look at her. God, she as standing there like a real adult now, it seemed so strange to see that sweet little sixteen year old girl he had fallen for so badly acting and behaving like a real grown up. Natasha had always been smart, but now he felt intimidated by her presence more than ever.

"I was trying to protect you."

Natasha laughed as she stopped. She leaned back against the wall, her shoulder blades resting against it as she rested her hand on her waistband. "Tig was out of his mind when he..." She trailed off but Happy picked her up quickly.

"Tried to rape you?" He shook his head, gesturing towards the club. "Like he did to your Mom? Talk about history fucking repeating, Tash, if I hadn't been there that night, he'd have done it and with hell to the consequences. I wasn't going to put you through that any more."

"Put me through what?" She was feeling frantic now. "I was fine. I knew that he made a mistake and he wouldn't do it again. But you… you were the one who didn't trust him, you were the one who was scared, not me." She had spent so much time in isolation, going through it over and over again. She had never expected it to come out like this, so angry, but she couldn't stop herself. "Face it, Hap. You wanted him dead because you felt you couldn't take your eyes off him. What you did was selfish, and you would have broken my Da's heart to get what you wanted."

She could feel her heart racing, slamming against her ribcage in frustration as she glared him down. Her hands balled into fists as she tried to calm her breathing down, but she shook her head, unable to stop.

"All you did was break my heart instead."

That was it, she couldn't help herself any more. She felt herself break down, an almighty sob escaping her as she banged her head against the wall. She had been doing everything she could to keep it together but suddenly everything just ebbed out of her body and she felt her energy draining as she sank down, her back to the wall, drawing her knees to her chin as she sat down on the floor. Happy watched, overwhelmed, unsure how to emote all of the things buzzing through him.

"Tash, please." He crouched down in front of her, not sure what to do. "Please don't cry." She had buried her face in her hands now, and he whimpered softly, wanting to hold her but knowing she wouldn't let him.

"You should go," she insisted, pulling herself into even smaller a ball to avoid his proximity. "You being here, it hurts, Happy. I need you to just leave me alone, while I'm here for Grandda. Please."

He waited a moment but she didn't say anything else. Slowly, Happy drew himself up and retreated a few steps. He didn't want to leave her, not like this, but he could see she didn't want him there.

"I won't do that," he muttered quietly, unable to take his eyes away from her. "You're my responsibility, Tash. No Russian's ever going to change that."