It was pouring rain when they got back to Uncle Ray and Aunt Naima's, so they waited in the truck for a few minutes to see if it would pass.

After the first few minutes, the silence grew too unbearable as her dad flicked through text messages, not seeming to notice that the storm outside started to get wilder.

With another loud strike and a strong gust of wind, Angie found herself unclipping her seatbelt and climbing up into the front passenger seat. She wasn't fond of storms. Her dad didn't scold her or comment. All he did was flick her seat heater on when she started to shiver before glancing up and scanning the world around them. Then he set his phone aside and leaned back into his seat, rubbing his chin.

"Do they know why I ran away?" Angie asked in a small voice, eyeing the phone and wondering who he'd been talking to.

"Would you like them to know?"

Sniffing back the remainder of the lingering tears, Angie struggled to find the right words.

"Uh huh…cause I don't want them to think it was because I don't like them, especially Aunt Naima and Jameelah…I…I was scared they maybe didn't want me too…just like I thought you didn't."

"Ok." Scott accepted it without much of a reaction as he watched her. "Do you want me to tell them?"

Angie nodded.

"Alright. I can do that. You still want to go in? Because if you don't, I'll go in and get your stuff and we can go back home."

Hesitating, Angie thought about it as she took in the friendly house she'd started to feel comfortable and at home in.

"You're sure no one's mad at me?"

Nodding, Scott said firmly, "No one is mad at you."

Tears surfacing, Angie hugged herself and whimpered softly, "Can you go check and make sure?"

The storm that was slowly tapering off around them her didn't frighten her nearly as much as going back in that house and finding out they were all angry with her, or that they didn't want her around, or that Aunt Naima didn't want to look after her anymore and Jameelah wasn't going to be friends with her.

With patience he'd been lacking the past few days, Scott nodded again and started to get out of the truck, unbothered by the lessening downpour. "I'll go make sure and let them know what happened as long as you promise not to leave this truck."

"I won't." Angie promised earnestly.

Pausing before he closed his door, he gave her a stern, pointed eyebrow raise.

"Good. I'll be back in just a few minutes."

With that, her dad walked through the rain into the house.

"Where is she?"

Jason voiced what Metal knew each of his brothers were itching to ask as he came in the door.

"In the truck." He answered in a level tone. The air in the room was a darn site calmer than the last time he'd been in here.

When they couldn't find Angie after about ten minutes of searching, worry built up in Metal for no apparent reason other than that he had a bad feeling. Then they'd found the window open in the storage room, the screen popped out and two very clear, small footprints in the dirt outside.

The second he'd seen it, the pieces (some of them at least) fell together and he just knew she was running.

All hell broke loose after that. Jameelah was urgently questioned by her dad about anything she and Angie might have planned; a prank, a joke, had Angie said anything at all about being upset or unhappy or frightened. The poor kid was as much in the dark as the rest of them.

By that point the Uncles were already out the door, splitting into separate vehicles to try finding Angie and arguing about why she might have taken off.

Metal headed home the moment he had the answers he'd needed from Jameelah. Angie had things at the house she would want and she was likely to go there first whether she was running away or not. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. Find her first, figure it out later. That's what he'd snarled at his brothers right before he left.

What he hadn't expected was her managing to break into the house without actually breaking anything and leaving again before he could get there.

His stomach had dropped when he found the house empty and her pack gone. Ice coursed through his veins until he'd reminded himself that he planned for this. The fact she had the backpack calmed every inch of him down again.

When he'd put the tracker into the lining of it and her school bag, he'd called himself paranoid, excessive and overprotective. Now he was beyond thankful he'd done it and there was no way he was ever telling Angie. If anything, now he was tempted to get her a phone just so he could track her through it too, but he wasn't a huge fan of the idea of a nine year old having one just yet.

Sonny's anxious question brought him back again, "You sure you want to leave her out there after she just-"

"She's not runnin again." Metal was mostly sure of that. For now at least. "Besides, we're all literally watching the truck right now, she would not get far even if she did."

"What the hell happened?" Jason asked. The last any of them heard from him was the group message he'd sent just before reaching Angie that he'd found her.

The whole heartbreaking confession from the poor kid crashed through him a second time, making his gut clench uncomfortably. Damn, he really wanted to go pick her up again and convince her a second time that he wanted her and loved her, just to make sure she knew. The way she begged, promising to do anything to stay with him, cut deeper than most things could. And he'd seen a lot. None of it could have prepare him for that.

Lowering his voice so he could swear without Jameelah overhearing in the other room, Metal said, "She overheard me and Jase talkin about fuckin Ronda and how I was finally gettin rid of her, except that Angie thought I was talking about her."

"Son of a-" Jason sat down on the couch, leaning forward and rubbing both eyes.

"Yeah. And she overheard the comment about being a 'pain in the ass' and making life complicated," Metal flicked a look to the truck, reassuring himself his kid was still there. Thunder rumbled overhead and he could just see the way she was rocking slightly in the front seat. Scared. She did that when she was scared. He needed to hurry this up. "So then she thought that I didn't want her and that I was sending her away with Ronda when she came this afternoon…which snowballed into her broken little heart deciding her only option was to run away again, except that she didn't even really want to run away because she wants to stay with me."

"Shit." Brock muttered, shaking his head.

Trent ran a hand through his hair and breathed, "The poor kid."

"I take back all that swearing I did when we was looking for her." Sonny said seriously. "Because at first I honestly thought the little scamp was trying to make me look bad again."

"She's completely clear now that it was all a misunderstanding, right? She knows we all love her and want her?" Ray asked quietly.

"If I wasn't clear enough with her about the fact that she's stuck with me, I don't know what else to do." That urge to stalk out to the truck and pull her back into his arms resurfaced, but he'd told Angie he would take care of this, so he had to see it through. "I think it's cleared up, for now at least. She's still scared that you lot are mad at her for taking off though."

"Ah, hell no. Little bear ain't stayin out there thinkin we're all mad. Not if Uncle Sonny has anything to say about it."

Sonny was up and headed for the door before anyone could stop him.

"Are we going to stop him or go with him?" Trent asked, half up out of his seat too. "Cause I'm not opposed to going and making sure she knows I'm not mad-"

"Yeah, I ain't waiting." Jason was already following Sonny.

Metal had to laugh a little when Brock and Trent trotted after them.

Ray hung back, torn, "I wanna be out there too, but I promised Naima and Jameelah I would let them know what's goin on-"

"I have a feeling those knuckleheads will have her in here pretty soon." Metal told him. "You can talk to her then. Go make sure Jameelah understands what happened and not to push Angie on it too hard."

"You got it."

Following the others into the drizzle, Metal was ready to intervene if Angie showed any signs of distress when Sonny opened the passenger door while the rest of them caught up.

"Hey, little bear!" Sonny greeted her cheerfully. "How you doin?"

Angie's initial reaction was to stay frozen and still, staring at her approaching uncles with that lost, overwhelmed look in her eye.

"You're not sittin out here thinkin that Uncle Sonny's mad at you, right?" Sonny asked her gently. "Cause that would not be true. I'm not mad at all. I'm just really glad you're safe, and back with us!"

Tears surfaced yet again and Angie dropped her eyes, arms wrapping around herself tighter.

Her lips moved and as he approached, Metal only just heard the kid utter, "I'm sorry I ran away. It was really dumb of me."

"Hey…Angie…it's ok! You can never ever do anything dumber than I have," Sonny told her seriously. "And I've done some pretty dumb stuff over the years."

"Yeah, your Uncle Sonny gets into some pretty silly mischief and we're always there to get him through it." Jason chimed in, moving in next to Sonny and folding his arms, peering at her with that look they all knew all too well. He wanted to hold the kid the same way he would his own. "And no one is mad at you, Angie. We're really glad you're safe and that your dad found you."

"Yeah! We're really happy to see you, kid," Trent added and Brock echoed the sentiment.

Struggling to watch the torrent of emotions building up in the child, Jason shifted forward and said gently, "This family is always there for me…and you're part of this family now too, Angie. So that means we get to be here for you as well. It's all ok. We love you, and want you here."

Predictably Angie started to cry and Metal watched with a set jaw as she reached for Jason and wrapped her small arms around his neck, hiding her face in his shoulder. From there, when asked if she would allow it, the kid was literally passed around for hugs from each of her uncles. Unfortunately that didn't turn off the tears. It seemed to make them worse, but in a good way and Metal finally cut through the group to take charge of his little girl.

"You comin inside or are we heading out?" He asked.

Angie seemed lost again, perched in Brock's arms, caught up in not knowing what she wanted.

"I think, little bear should come inside. We don't get enough time with her," Sonny said decidedly.

"I know for sure that Jameelah will want to see you," Trent added.

"Yeah, and I heard there was a neat game that Uncle Sonny brought for us to play," Brock stage-whispered.

Still not answering verbally, but communicating so clearly with those Bambi eyes and the shy little head nod, Metal took her from Brock and started indoors.

They wouldn't stay long. But he knew it was important to her that they clear the air with everyone. Not just her uncles.

A few hours later, when they got home again, Angie was exhausted as she trailed up the walk and steps to the front door.

She'd made peace with everyone. No one was mad at her. Jameelah still wanted to be friends and forgave her instantly. Aunt Naima had hugged her tightly and lovingly, promising everything was ok. Uncle Ray had done the same and promised that if she ever needed safe people to talk to when she was feeling overwhelmed or like she had to run away again, they were all there to listen.

Now she just felt tired and not at all wanting to deal with Ronda's visit.

"Does she have to come?" Angie shyly wondered out loud as she pulled off her wet shoes.

"She does." Scott answered, tone suggesting he was as excited about the visit as Angie. "I know you don't like seeing her or talking to her, but we have to do this final meeting. After that it will be someone new."

"Ok." Angie tried not to sound so unenthusiastic and failed.

Nudging her towards her room, Scott said, "Go unpack that bag. Put everything back where it belongs. She'll be here soon. You may as well be busy, unless you want to greet her at the door."

Angie did prefer to be busy and absolutely did not want to greet Ronda at the door, so she hurried to do as she'd been asked.

Before she'd put everything to rights in her room, Angie heard her dad open the front door and Ronda's voice carried through the house.

She was here.

"Angie? You wanna come out here?"

Angie wanted to say no, but the calm assurance in Scott's tone forced her feet to start moving.

Instincts screamed at her to hide somewhere in the house, but her dad promised everything would be ok, so she emerged and came to stand just behind him.

When Ronda looked at her and smiled with that overly cheerful brightness, Angie reached out suddenly and slipped her hand into Scott's. She felt better when her fingers were enveloped firmly within the large hand even as her dad kept looking forward, listening to what Ronda was saying about 'final' paperwork and the big file she had on the table of 'information her dad wanted'.

"Aside from that, it was all I could get my hands on. I'm sure Leslie will help find more if you need it. I've heard good things about her."

"Good. Appreciate it."

"Oh, of course! I applaud your dedication to finding as many resources as possible to give you and Angie a steady beginning! I must say, some of them were extremely hard to dig up, but your persistence had its way, it would seem." Ronda sounded pleasant enough, but there was a strained note just before she turned to Angie again. "Hi Angie! How was your week?"

"Hi. It was good," Angie mumbled, trying and failing to maintain a false sense of confidence. She was too tired to play at being someone else right now and that made it harder to fake how she was feeling.

She tried to fight the weird sensation building in her stomach the longer she heard Ronda speak. It was like she suddenly wanted to climb into her dad's arms and start bawling for no good reason at all and seeing Ronda brought unwelcome images of hospital beds, strong emotions, helplessness, whispering adults and overly sympathetic stares.

"Hmm. Mr. Carter, do you think you could give Angie and I a few minutes alone?"

Ronda told more than asked, even if it did come out as a pleasant question.

"But, I don't want him to leave." Angie blurted, her feet taking an involuntary step so that she bumped into her dad's side and her fingers tightened in his hand.

"Well, honey, sometimes it's easier to answer some of my questions if-"

"No. I want him here." Angie's voice shook and her chest constricted. "You always used to say what I wanted matters and that I can use my voice. I want Daddy to stay."

Opening and closing her mouth to argue, but caught by her own words, Ronda sighed and said, "Honey, can you tell me why it's so important that he stays? Because it's against the rules and I have to have a very good reason not to follow them."

The truth fell from Angie's lips in a jumbled rush.

"Because I don't want to talk to you! Every…every time we talk it just makes everything messier inside, and I feel like I'm…in the hospital again, and it's like mommy just died all over again and then I want to explode and throw things and I know that isn't your fault but I don't like seeing you because it makes me think about when…when mommy was dying and I can't…I don't want to-" Angie gulp a breath of air and looked up at her dad imploringly. "Please don't leave, Daddy?"

The warm palm that came to rest on the back of her neck, in addition to the firm squeeze of her hand in his, brought a center of calm and Scott looked at Ronda, an eyebrow raised with a challenge.

"I ain't leavin."

The statement was low and firm with the bared hint of a warning growl beneath the surface. The moment he said it, Angie calmed just a little because she had complete and utter faith he wouldn't.

"No…for once you and I are on the same page. You aren't going anywhere, Mr. Carter." Ronda was rubbing her temples and squinting at Angie. "Angie, thank you for telling me that. I understand that seeing me must be dragging up some hard feelings, especially given everything we've worked through these past two months and that's ok. I'm going to ask a few questions and then I'll leave the rest for your new social worker. Does that work?"

"Daddy's staying?"

"Yes, your dad is staying right with you."

"Ok. I can do that."

"Alright, wonderful. Thank you, Angie. Do you mind if we sit down?"

Angie didn't mind so long as she was next to her dad, which she was. He let her tuck in close against him on the couch while Ronda settled on the other one.

"Alright," Ronda got out her writing tablet and the special pen. "So, I can see that you feel safer with your dad close by, and that's really great to see, Angie! I'm hoping that maybe him being here will help you feel like you can be as honest as possible and answer some of these questions with more than one word, unlike the last time we talked."

"Ok." Angie mumbled, then when she realized she just gave another one word answer, she added, "I'll try."

"That's all I ask." Ronda started to scroll through a list of questions. Angie knew them already. They were general 'well-being' questions that Ronda had been running through with her every few weeks while Angie had been in her charge with mommy in the hospital. "How have you been sleeping?"

"Better." Angie unconsciously shifted closer to her dad and the arm encircling her shifted with a subtle indicator that he was still there and she could be honest. "Daddy reads to me and I fall asleep better. We're reading the Hobbit right now."

"That's wonderful!" Genuine approval and warm respect slipped into Ronda's tone suddenly and she moved on. "No bad dreams?"

Thinking of the number of disturbing dreams she'd had the previous night, Angie shrugged and said, "Sometimes. Not…not as often as before."

"Ok, that's good too! How about your appetite? You mentioned a few weeks ago that sometimes you just didn't want to eat, especially in the morning. How's that been?"

"Daddy and I make breakfast." Angie volunteered, perking up a little because she'd almost forgotten about how much she used to dread breakfast before coming to stay with him. Brow furrowing, she looked up at Scott suddenly as if trying to figure out what magic he used to fix that. "I'm always hungry by the time we've made everything!"

The barest hint of a smirk appeared while he studied her seriously and he rumbled, "Me too."

"Fantastic!" Ronda's guarded, carefully school personal slipped and there was another flicker of genuine emotion as she looked between the two of them. "And Angie, you've had some struggles with handling big feelings in the past…how are you doing with those?"

Thinking of how she'd tossed a glass of water across the room about a week ago and how today she'd run away, Angie hesitated.

"Ok, I guess." Face flushing a little, Angie fidgeted with the edge of her shirt. "Sometimes I don't make the best choices."

"Can you tell me a little more about that?"

"I…I broke another cup…last weekend."

"Do you want to tell me why?"

Angie didn't, but she figured letting Ronda fixate on this incident instead of mentioning running away was better. "I got mad."

"How come?"

"I was told to drink my water and I didn't want to…and then I threw my cup."

Ronda nodded and scribbled a few notes down. "Was there anything that happened leading up to that, or were you just having a bad day?"

Truthfully, Angie couldn't remember, so she shrugged and mumbled, "I don't know."

"Was Dad there? Can he shed any light on what happened?"

Scott stirred and said with mild gruffness, "Thought I wasn't supposed to be here for these questions."

"Well, you are, so let's get a clear picture. These outbursts aren't new and her next case worker needs to have an idea of what's going on."

Shrugging, Scott said, "She'd had a long week. Lot's of changes. Lot's of upset with everything happening in her life. Not really a surprise. We talked about it. We dealt with it. We moved on."

The fact he was vague and direct all at once made Angie happy. It seemed like he was deliberately leaving the details up to her.

"Given that this is an ongoing problem, I don't think it should be so quickly dismissed." Ronda stated stiffly.

"Who said we dismissed it?" Scott answered, his tension rising in the growing 'pleasant', incredulity in his tone. "I just said we talked about it and we moved on."

"Care to share what you talked about?"

Angie sensed the tension between the two adults rising and her dad held the better half of control as he shrugged again and looked down at Angie with a crinkle of warmth when she met his gaze questioningly.

"What do you think, Angie? Do you want to share what we talked about?"

Getting the feeling Ronda was looking for a fault in her dad, Angie was eager to defend him. Given that the truth was what made her feel so much better after that incident, Angie said, "You told me nothing was wrong with me, and that you understood what it was like to hurt so much inside, and that it was ok to cry, and that you knew I didn't mean to throw it because…because I was trying to carry too much alone and throwing stuff was how it was coming out."

Her dad nodded once. "Yup. Pretty much sums it up."

They both turned to Ronda who looked utterly floored, as if that was not at all what she thought Angie would say.

"Ok. Looks like you two have a good system in place there. Moving on." Ronda scribbled something else into her notes with a hot flush rising in her cheeks and asked with less attitude, "Angie, do you feel safe living with your dad?"

Looking at the woman as if she had rocks in her head, Angie said, "Yes."

"And your Aunt Naima, is everything going just as well there? You feel safe and taken care of?"

Again, Angie was a little incredulous. "Yes. Aunt Naima is wonderful and she takes really good care of me, just like Daddy does."

"Ok! Awesome!" Ronda peered through her notes, debating something before she flicked off the tablet and looked at them. "That about covers what I needed to follow up on. Leslie will cover the rest when you meet with her next week. Do you have any questions for me?"

"I don't have any further questions, no. Angie? Do you have anything you need to ask Ronda?"

The first question that popped into Angie's mouth came out before she had time to think about it.

"Where are all my books?"

While Angie had been amassing a small collection of borrowed books and a few new ones that Daddy and her found at a used book store on Wednesday after school, she still missed her collection. It was like her closest friends were missing.

"Oh! Sweetie, they're on their way! I promise. They told me by the end of the week it should all be moved into the storage unit and you and your dad can go through it as you like."

"Oh. Ok." Angie watched as Ronda got up and couldn't decide what she should do because there were so many mixed emotions watching the woman leave.

Taking the lead, Scott got up and walked Ronda to the door. Angie followed just behind him.

"Best of luck to you both!" Ronda said with a genuine note to her.

"Thank you." Angie murmured, her hand finding her dad's again as if it had a mind of its own. She just felt so weird about Ronda. It was like she both did and didn't want her around. Like she was both the last tie to her mother that she had right now and the reminder of all the terrible moments she'd endured the last two months.

Then just like that, Ronda was gone, the door was closed and it was all over.

And Angie was hollow inside.

"You doin ok?"

The question jolted her back into her body and Angie drew a shuddering breath before saying, "I don't know."

The hand still holding her own squeezed and tugged her back into the house.

"Fair enough. You've had a busy day already." Casting a curious look down at her, Scott asked, " Did you sleep well last night?"

Biting her lip, Angie shook her head slowly.

"No. I had…bad dreams."

"Anything in particular?"

Feeling small all the sudden, Angie stopped moving and turned her body into him. Just like she'd hoped, he stooped down and let her wrap her arms around his neck before lifting her.

It wasn't until he settled them both on the couch, this time with Angie properly cuddled in his arms, that the girl found her voice again.

"Kept having dreams about drowning...or being out in the middle of the water and I couldn't make my arms move to swim back to shore and then I'd sink." Shuddering, Angie burrowed closer and closed her eyes. "I don't like nightmares."

"Me neither." The admission was almost more to himself than to Angie, so she didn't press further questions.

They fell silent for a little while, and Angie drank in the sense of serenity that just being still, cozy with someone who was proving themselves to be a safe place for her.

"Angie, if you're having bad dreams you can always come find me or Aunt Naima. You don't have to manage it alone."

Nodding, Angie fought the urge to start crying for no reason and closed her eyes.

"I miss my mom." The words fell from her lips softly and immediately as the thought entered her head.

"I know." The understanding and compassion found in those two words undid Angie all over again and she curled in closer, sobbing.

"Does it ever stop hurting so much?" She asked, utterly broken.

"It will always hurt, but with time it will start to hurt less."

The words were a small comfort, but a comfort all the same. Angie clung to them along with the greater comfort of being close to her dad.

Loved. Safe. Wanted.