Chencho thought of the wolf tattoo that belonged to Los Lobos Locos' current leader. It seemed dangerous unlike the name of its owner.

CJ

Who would have thought a guy with such a non-threatening name would lead to his destruction? The sound of the metal door scraping against the floor caught his attention.

"What do you want now?" Chencho groaned as he attempted to break free from the ropes that held him in place.

"Is that any way to greet your leader? Your savior?" CJ asked as he made his way across the bare room.

"Savior?" Chencho scoffed. His mouth felt dry. He needed water.

"I saved you from all those crazy wolves, didn't I? If they found out that one of their own...that one of their trusted members was really a cop they would have torn you apart. Perhaps I should have let them. I would've loved to hear you scream, Chencho. The sound of bones breaking...you ever hear it? I'm sure you have. It's like when you hear two cars crashing. You know something bad, something painful, something awful just happened."

"You're sick," Chencho muttered.

"Sick?" CJ touched his forehead and grinned. "No, I feel fine. Just peachy. I brought you a gift."

He held up a syringe and Chencho winced at the thought of having even more drugs injected into him.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Chencho asked.

"I thought about it but why should I when opportunity is pounding at my door? A few days like this and I'll have you begging for it. You'll do anything...even betray that justice system you work so hard for. You'll be my slave, Chencho."

"I could end up dead," Chencho reminded him.

CJ shrugged, "That's a possibility."

Chencho felt the prick of the needle and gave a silent prayer that he'd die before falling victim to CJ's hopes.

-----------

"Oliver?" Dani was shaking. She felt dizzy and she needed water.

"Dani...I don't know what to tell you," Oliver scratched the back of his head, avoiding her eyes.

"How? How do you know her?"

"Dani, I don't know how to tell you this but-"

"Has she been calling you?"

Oliver nodded, "I met her when we were both young and before you were born."

"All this time...why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to. I thought about it. I just couldn't. There were too many reasons not to."

"Name two!" Dani's voice cracked in pain. "You knew! You knew how hard it's been for me without her or my father."

"Exactly! I didn't think you'd want to be around a woman that left you behind. Dani, I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Was that your reason? Because if it was, you failed."

She heard Oliver yelling behind her. A part of her was tempted to hear his story but the thought of doing so was scary. He had even mentioned her having a new family. 

Her footsteps felt leaden as she stomped into the serving area of the diner. She passed Jax, Roberto, and Tristan.

"Dani?" Jax stood up as Dani exited the diner. He gave Roberto an apologetic look and chased after her.

"Where the hell is he going?" Tristan asked.

"Don't worry about it," Roberto muttered.

"Don't worry about it?" Tristan mocked. "Are you kidding? Gladys is out there and we need all the help we can get."

Roberto slammed his hand against the table they were sitting at, "Enough! You think I don't know that? Even so, Gladys is my responsibility not Jax's. Couldn't you see that she looked upset? His place is with her. He'll help me when I need him but I'm not going to ask him to ignore his girlfriend if she's hurt."

"How do you know she isn't upset about something stupid?"

"Because I've been watching them. I've seen her when she's been threatened and I could see her fear but that face she just had was different."

"How so?"

"She looked heartbroken," Roberto whispered. "It's probably how Gladys looks right now. When the woman he loves has that expression...how can I possibly ask him to ignore it?"

-----------

Dani was sobbing when Jax caught up to her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms.

"What's the matter? You're scaring me," Jax whispered as he rubbed a hand against her back.

"Oliver. My mother. He lied to me."

"Let's go home first, okay?"

Dani shook her head, "I want to go to my apartment. I need to pick something up."

"Fine, we'll stop there first, okay?"

A few minutes later they were walking down the corridor to Dani's apartment. Dani glanced at Calvin's door.

"Has he given you any problems?" Jax asked, pointing to Calvin's door. "You said he was creepy."

She shook her head before unlocking her door and entering her apartment. Dani walked to her bedroom. She stared at the dream catchers above her bed and plucked a large white one from the wall.

"What are you doing?" Jax asked.

She turned the dream catcher over and pulled off a taped photograph of her mother and father.

"These were my parents."

"Why do you have their picture there?"

Dani sniffled, "I don't know. I guess I was stupid enough to think that maybe I'd dream of them once in a while. I never did. I used to think she was dead. Did you know that? Dad had said she left because she was sick."

"I'm sorry Dani."

"The truth was that she didn't want to be married with a kid. Especially a weird kid like me. She left us, Jax! She left us! And Oliver...Oliver made it sound like he knew her. Like she had a brand new family."

"It's going to be okay, Dani."

"No, no it's not. Oliver knows her. He lied to me! How am I supposed to face him? All this time he pretended not to know her."

She felt Jax kissing her forehead as her arms squeezed around his torso, "Dani, no matter what happened in the past, you don't have to let it change your relationship with Oliver. He's like a father to you."

"He lied to me."

"He was probably trying to protect you."

"By lying?"

"Why are you so upset? Shouldn't you be happy that now you can finally see her again?"

"Why would I want to see her again?" Dani pulled herself away from Jax.

Jax pursed his lips together before asking, "Then why are you holding onto that picture?"

----------

Dani was quiet on the way to Jax's house. She was still thinking about what Jax had said to her before they left her apartment.

  "Then why are you holding onto that picture?"  

Did she really want to meet her mother after all these years? What if her mother still didn't want to meet with her? What if her mother didn't like how she had turned out? They pulled into Jax's driveway and entered his home. Dani noticed the new security alarm Jax had in place. She swallowed her worries as they walked upstairs.

"Dani, I want you to sleep in my room tonight."

"Jax-"

"No, Dani. You've had a tough night. Put your stuff in my room."

"If I sleep in your room, you're going to want-"

"Sleep," Jax finished her sentence. "I'm going to want sleep. Why is your mind always in the gutter, Panda Eyes?"

"It's not. I just figured you'd want to...you know."

"No, I don't know. Please explain," he had a wicked smile on his face which told Dani he knew exactly what she meant. "And in great detail."

"Jax, stop joking. You know what I'm talking about."

"I believe I already told you that if you wanted more than sleep, all you had to do was ask."

"You're such a pervert."

"I never said I wasn't," he winked at her.

After they were in bed, thoughts of everything that had gone on in the past few days ran through Dani's mind.

"Jax?" she whispered in the dark.

"Hmm?" he murmured against his pillow.

"Jax are you asleep?"

She heard him chuckle, "Yes."

"Liar."

"What's wrong?"

"Jax, can you make me a promise?"

She felt his weight on the bed shift as he turned over to face her, "Anything."

"Jax, I know we're just starting out but we've been through a lot together. True?"

"True."

"I feel like I've really gotten to know you. You're the only one that knows my secret about my dreams."

"You've even seen my dreams," Jax reminded her. "I don't think I have any secrets left from you."

"Right. Well, the thing is...all my life there's been a pattern when it comes to the people I trust."

"A pattern?"

Dani nodded, "I trust someone and for whatever reason they leave me or betray me. My mom, my dad, Billy-"

"You hardly knew Billy."

Dani chose to ignore Jax's statement.

"Oliver."

"Dani, Oliver loves you like a daughter. I've seen him try and spoil you."

"Jax, I don't want to argue right now. My point is that the people I care about somehow let me down."

Jax tensed as he waited for her to continue.

"I understand if it's a lot to ask from you right now but promise me."

"Promise what?"

She turned to face him. The room was dimly lit by the moonlight shining through the thing gauze curtains, "That you won't leave me."

"Dani-"

"Or hurt me," Dani whispered.

She felt him pull her in his arms. He kissed her lips before answering, "I promise but you have to promise me something too."

"What?"

"Promise that you won't keep secrets from me. That you'll let me know when you're scared or stressed."

"Jax-"

"Do you promise?"

Dani felt as though someone had rubbed a sweet balm over her, "I promise. Jax?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you kiss me again?"

She heard him laugh before feeling his lips slowly claim hers.

"You feel better?" he asked softly.

She nodded against his chest, "Jax?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you make love to me?"

A moment of silence passed and Dani began to panic that he would reject her. She was quickly reassured when she felt his arms tighten around her.

"Why Panda Eyes, I thought you'd never ask."