Disclaimer: I don't own Sons Of Anarchy, FX and Kurt Sutter does.

This story takes place during the second season of the show. It stars between the second and third episode and I've taken major liberties with the timeline. I haven't written a story that's based on the show like this before and It's kind of fun. However, I don't want to reinvent the wheel so I'm not going to write the exact scenes unless my OC is in them. I'm kind of assuming that you all have seen the second season, and if you haven't you'll probably be able to follow the story anyway.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Are you going to hit me with the bat?

"Teller – Morrow." Gemma answered the phone.

"Hi Gemma, it's Jack." Jack owned a café on main street, he was a friend of the club, gave them good prices on lunch and catering whenever they asked and was an old class mate of Gemma's.

"Hi Jack! All good?"

"Yeah, I wanna ask a favor."

Gemma was glad to be able to do him a favor, he has never asked for one and this was an opportunity for her to show how much she appreciated his friendship.

"Sure, Jack. Anything."

"I've got a friend who needs her car serviced."

"Ok? You need a good price?" That didn't seem like something he would consider a favor.

"Yes, that too, she doesn't have much money. But more importantly, it needs to be done completely off the books, no putting in her name or plate in a computer, preferably not mentioned anywhere at all."

"I'd love to do that for you, you know that, but I need to know what we're dealing with."

"She not on the run from the law, if that's what you mean. But she doesn't have any car insurance on it, it's complicated."

"Why?"

"It's an ex, she's got restraining orders and shit, but... Apparently DMV are a huge problem with these types of problems, she's ok with the cops here but..."

"Ok, I get it." Gemma said. "It's not a problem Jack, just give me the info and I'll have Jax look after her."

"Good, thanks. I owe you one."

"No you don't. We'll take care of her."

Gemma got the info on the woman and went out to find Jax.

-o0o-

Jax watched as the Black 1969 Karmann Ghia drove up on the lot. This was the car he had been waiting for.

When the owned of the car got out of it Jax was surprised, she was a small, lean and had thick chocolate brown, almost black hair. She wore jeans and a white ribbed tank top with a gray cardigan over it. Why she insisted on the cardigan in this heat, he couldn't figure out. Nice ass and handful tits, he couldn't see her eyes due to the aviator sunglasses she was wearing. What stunned him was the girl who jumped out on the other side of the car, she also had almost black, curly hair, alabaster skin and she wore a navy blue dress, white knee socks and was about four years old. He walked up to the woman.

"Hi, I'm guessing you're the one Jack called about?"

"Yes, I really appreciate this."

"No problem, anything wrong with it?"

"No, but it is a Ghia, she needs love in the form of service to co-operate." she said with a smile.

He turned to the little girl, "Your mom and I are going to have to fix some stuff, would you like something to drink while you're waiting?"

She looked up at him with big blue eyes, "Can I go look at the bikes?" She pointed to the bikes parked close to the clubhouse.

"Honey, I'm not sure that's such a good idea." The woman said.

"Sure she can, it's no problem."

"Ok, Grace, do you remember the rule when you are looking at bikes?" Jax looked at them with a curious eye. They had rules for that? It was obviously not the first time she was looking at bikes.

"Sure mom, keep my hands in my pockets the entire time." Smart girls, even kids could get into trouble if they messed with a man's bike. This girl was tiny though so he doubted she would be able to do any damage even if she tried. But, hand in pockets sounded like a plan.

"Ok. Be careful."

The girl ran off with her hands in the pockets of her dress. He went for the papers and when he got out he saw the girl walking from one bike to the other, looking, leaning forward, all the time with the hands in the pockets.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Ava Sanders."

"Jax Teller."

"Jack said it would be off the books." She looked worried, Jax only got the basic info from his mom, which was 'keep it off the books and no unnecessary questions'.

"Sure, no records on computers, but I still need your info and info on the car. We'll keep it on papers in the office until we're done and then they disappear."

She nodded. "Ok. Just wanted to make sure. I... I can't have any insurance on it."

"You can get into trouble for that if the cops ask you, but I'm guessing you know that."

"I do." That was all she said. Well, it wasn't his problem.

They started filling out the papers, now and then Ava looked up and glanced at Grace.

"What is she doing?" Jax had to ask, she was knelt down, looking at the engine on Half-sacks bike.

"Probably looking at the engine, to see what you've done with it." Ava answered after another quick glance at her daughter.

"What?" The answer surprised him. "Would she be able to see that?"

"She knows a lot about bikes. Loves them. My brother is a mechanic, he's taught her loads. She reads books about bikes all the time as well."

Jax was stunned, that kid wasn't very old and not only did she know about bikes, she was reading books about them. Who were these people?

When they were almost finished Clay, Bobby, Tig, Chibs and Hap drove up on the lot. The girl, Grace, watched them as they parked, still with her hands in the pockets. When they shut of their engines she walked straight up to Haps bike. Leaned over to see better. Hap just looked at the kid, confusion written all over his face. Jax could hardly keep himself from laughing, Hap wasn't the kid-loving kind.

Happy was looking at the little kid when she was walking around his bike, she was leaning forward, looking at the engine and then walked over to the other side, looking closely there as well.

"What are you doing?" He finally had to ask. The kid looked up at him, still with her hands in her pockets. Smiling. She had the biggest, bluest fucking eyes he had ever seen.

"Hey, kid, where's you mom?" Chibs asked. The girl just looked at him and Happy started to wonder what she had in her pockets since she wouldn't take out her hands.

"Where's your mom?" Clay repeated Chibs question. The girl looked at him and then down on his cut, then nodded towards the garage and they all looked up and Happy noticed the back of a kind of short woman, long dark hair and a really nice ass in a pair of jeans.

Then she looked over at Happy again. "I like your bike best, if you had a bitch seat I would tell my mom to date you."

The comment almost made him fall of his bike.

"I could date you mom." Bobby laughed, the girl just shook her head.

"Why not?" He heard Clay teaser her.

"I don't like ape hangers." She said.

"A girl with taste." Tig said and laughed. "Maybe I could date your mom then?" She just shook her head again and smiled.

"Looks like you already have." Clay said when he walked up and looked at the girl.

"What?" Tig said and Clay nodded towards her.

"Look at those eyes." He smiled. "What about my bike? You don't like it?"

She walked over to his bike and looked at it, she still had her hands in her pockets.

"It's a 2008 Dyna. You haven't altered much. I like the thunderhead exhaust pipe and the drag bars. I like drag bars." She said with a smile. Happy could feel his jaw hitting the ground. She moved to the front of the Prez bike. "I don't like forward basing intake."

"That one." He said pointing at Tigs and she moved over to his.

"You've done a lot!" she said and looked at Tig and then leaned forward. "To the engine as well. I don't like all the chrome. But I like the skulls. Is it a 96ci engine?" She looked at Tig who just nodded with a smile.

"Jesus!" Chibs said, "Where did you learn all that?"

"My uncle, and I read books about bikes." She said, still with her hands in her pockets. "I still like that guys bike the best." She nodded towards him and he smiled, the girl had taste, and she knew bikes like a mechanic. He wondered how old she was. She was small, maybe six. Happy wasn't good at judging a kids age.

"Happy's bike?" Clay said with a smile.

"Is that his name?" She said with a giggle.

"You can read?" Clay asked and the girl just rolled her eyes. "And why are you keeping your hands in you pocket?"

"Mom says I have to keep my hands in my pockets when I'm looking at bikes."

Her mom was obviously a smart woman. And just as she mentioned her she came walking towards them and Happy realized that it wasn't just her ass that was fine. She opened the door on a black Karmann Ghia and took a pink backpack and a black bag. A woman with a daughter who know bikes and who drove a Karmann Ghia. Not even mentioning she was quite pretty.

"Mom, remember my Motörhead cd!" Geez, how did you get a kid like that?

"Got it, Grace." she leaned over to pick out the cd and Happy had to admit it once again, that was a very nice ass. She walked over to the girl. "You ok?" Grace, it was a nice name, classic.

"Anyone you know?" Clay asked Tig who looked at the women with a big smile on his face.

"Nope!"

"Look mom, that's a Super glide with a 124ci engine and a lock-up clutch."

"Grace, I don't even know what that means." Well, obviously nobody's perfect. But then again, a bitch who knew bikes wasn't really a proper bitch.

"It's awesome! That's what it means." She said. "If he had a bitch seat I would have told you to date him."

The mom looked at Jax. "What did she just say?"

"That she thinks you should date him." He smiled. Happy didn't date, ever. And even a pretty woman like this wouldn't be a women he dated. He wouldn't mind fucking her though.

"No, what kind of seat?"

"Bitch seat, for a passenger."

She turned towards the Kid, Grace, just looking at her and then her mouth turned into a big smile and she walked up to her, tossed her into the air and kissed her. "Bitch seat? I'm going to have a serious talk to your uncle." Then she tickled her.

Grace giggled. "Moooom, it's what it's called."

"I'm pretty sure there's another name for it." She kissed her again before putting her down on the ground and turned to Jax. He handed her a bunch of papers.

"Here's you copies. We'll call you when you can pick up your car."

"Thanks." she looked down at Grace again. "Come on, we're outta here, say goodbye and thank you to everyone."

Grace waved at them. The others waved back but Happy just kept looking at the mom. Even if she had a kid, he definitely wouldn't mind hooking up with her once in a while.

"How are we getting home?" Grace asked.

"The bus."

"I don't like the bus."

"Well, hon', it's the bus or walking."

"I can call you a cab." Jax said.

"Nah, it's fine, we'll take the bus."

"It's not a problem. We got them on speed dial."

"Appreciate it, but I can't afford it." She smiled and then knelt down to put the pink backpack on the kid.

"Can I piggy back ride? I'll give you two kisses." The girls said with big, begging eyes.

"Hmm. ok." The girl grabbed her moms neck and gave her two quick kisses and then climbed up on her back. "Thanks." She said to Jax and then nodded too Happy and the others and started to walk of the lot. When she pouted her lips for the kisses he noticed that they where very full. Ok, he needed to snap out of this, besides, she was walking off the lot so he would probably never see her again.

Gemma came walking, "Who's that?"

"The woman with the Karmann Ghia, the one Jack called about."

"Why didn't you call her a cab?" Gemma sounded annoyed, as she so often did.

"Said she couldn't afford one."

"You asshole!" Gemma said. "Gonna let a woman walk home, how did I raise you?" And she ran after the woman. That was surprising and very unlike Gemma. She usually couldn't have cared less about shit like that.

"What was her name?" Tig asked.

"Ava."

Ava and Grace. Sounded nice.

"Classy." Chibs said.

"Sure you've never tapped her?" Clay asked, "That girl had eyes the same color as yours."

"Pretty sure." Tig said. Happy looked at Tig, any man would remember hitting something like that. Without a doubt.

"You're nuts, that's not Chibs kid." Jax laughed.

"That little girl really knew bikes." Clay smiled.

Gemma came walking with Ava and Grace. "You know men, wouldn't know good manners if it hit them in the face. We'll give you a lift home."

"It's really not necessary." Ava tried. If she had known Gemma she'd know that it was completely futile, she had made up her mind. She put down Grace and then took off her glasses. Her eyes weren't blue, they were amber, a rich gold color towards the pupil and a dark ring around the iris, it looked amazing. She had an embarrassed look on her face and bit her lip.

"Hap, take my car and give her a lift." Hap looked at Gemma, was she insane? He was not the go-to-guy for lifts. The other seemed to think the same thing and Jax's mouth was open. But no way would he question Gemma. No-one would so they all just looked at him as he walked up to her.

"Ehrm, ok?" He took the keys from Gemma and went to her car.

"This really isn't necessary." Ava tried again and Happy stopped to look at her, she was looking at Gemma with an almost pleading face.

"You're our customer, we take care of our customers."

"Can I talk to him now?" Grace was pointing at him and Ava looked at him.

"What? Oh, sure."

The girl walked up to him and looked at him, she was so small, her head was bent back so far it looked like she was about to tip over.

"Why haven't you put a Bitch seat on your bike?" If anyone else had asked he would have said it was because he didn't want any bitches on his bike, but even Happy knew that was probably not something you said to a small kid.

"Honey, maybe we could not ask any questions and just get to the car."

"But you said I could talk to him."

"Yes, but just... get to the car. I'll be right there."

She ran over to her car and picked out a car seat for the kid and then to Gemma's car were he was waiting, she strapped the kid in and got into the car herself.

"Where are we going?" he asked. She gave him his address and they took of. She didn't say anything in the car and when he pulled up in front of an apartment building she turned around.

"Shit.

"What?"

"She fell asleep." She got out of the car, managed to get Grace out and then tried to take out the car seat with the kid in her arms.

"Hang on." Happy said, Gemma would take off his balls if he didn't help this chick. He took the car seat the pink backpack and motioned towards the house. "Lead the way."

She walked ahead of him, he had never in his life carried anything pink and he wasn't comfortable with it. She started to search her bag and got up a set of keys, put it in the door and tried to open it.

"Damn! Can you help? You have to kind of push the door while turning the key."

He walked up and did as she said.

"You can just leave the car seat in the hallway, I can take the backpack." He walked through the door, put down the car seat on the floor and looked into the apartment. The apartment smelled nice, sweet. But it was worn, despite being neat and clean it was obvious that it was worn and pretty empty. He turned around and she pointed towards a door behind him. "I need to..."

He walked further into the hallway and she opened the door and walked inside with the kid. He looked into the room. There was a small white bed with pink sheets, a small, white, secretary desk with drawers, a bookcase and two pink wooden boxes on the floor. On the walls were pictures of bikes and princesses. It was all nice, neat, but once again, obviously pimped up second hand stuff.

She pulled off the kids shoes, stroke the hair out of her face and put a blanket on her. She walked out and shut the door behind her.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. And I'm sorry for... her comments. She just... really love bikes." She had a husky voice, Happy was starting to wonder if there was anything about this woman that wasn't sexy.

"It's ok."

She just nodded at him. He wanted to talk to her more, know more about her.

"Have you lived here long?"

"No, we moved here four months ago, from San Francisco."

"You work?"

"Yeah, at the library." If this was what librarians look like maybe he should go there more often. He was trying to find something else to say. He didn't want her to stop talking, he wanted to hear more of that voice.

"Why'd you move here?" She still smiled but she looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sure that lady wants her car back." She was avoiding his question.

"Yeah."

"Thank you, again, for your help."

"Sure."

When he walked out the door he noticed two bolt locks on the inside of the door, a quick look when he opened the door made him notice the safety studs on the hinges. That was hardly standard in this apartment. And she wasn't scared of a burglary, the sound of the bolt locks when he had left the apartment confirmed that. She was keeping someone out.

Ava closed the door and bolted it shut. She didn't want to answer any questions. Frankly she wouldn't even know were to start. She was also embarrassed over the complete mess she had made of her life and more importantly, her kids life, what kind of a mom did that? That wasn't something you wanted to discuss with a big-ass biker who your daughter had tried to pimp you out to.

She turned around and looked at the apartment. I looked just as cheap as it was, it was all she could offer her kid, she couldn't even afford a fucking cab this month since she had to service her car. She could've skipped it but if it broke down it would be even more expensive and she wouldn't be able to keep it. She leaned towards the door, slid down until she was sitting on the floor and held her knees.

She took some deep breathes, there was no point in crying about it. She was fine, Grace was fine, she had a job and they were safe. That was all that mattered. She pulled herself off the floor and walked into the kitchen and roamed the cupboards and fridge. She needed to make something for Grace to eat when she woke up.

-o0o-

Happy came back to the garage and walked up to Jax.

"Hey, that chick who was here?"

"With the kid?"

"Yeah, got her info?"

"Why?"

"Something's off."

"What?"

He wasn't sure where to begin, there was a lot of things that were off. "She... she's got bolt locks and safety studs on her door. She put them up herself."

"So?"

"Don't know, just that something's off."

Jax just looked at him. Then he shrugged, got her info and gave it to Happy. "We did this as a favor for Jack, keeping it off the books, so don't raise any alerts."

"Why?"

"Don't know, Mom just said it needed to be off the books, I didn't ask why."

"So something is definitely off then?" Happy said and went to find Juice.

"Can you do a search on her? Needs to be discrete, noting that shows. Gemma will have a fit if you raise any alarms." He said to Juice as he handed him the note with the info.

"Who is she?"

"She was here earlier. Don't know, got this feeling something's off."

"Cop?"

"No, not that." She wasn't a cop, no cop would agree to a undercover job and live under those conditions, they wouldn't have bothered with the door either.

"Hang on, was this the chick with the kid?" He should have known, words travel fast here.

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'll let you know what I find."

-o0o-

The next day they were sitting at the bar, having coffee when Juice walked in.

"Hey, that girl, Ava Sanders."

Happy turned towards him. "Yeah."

"Basically, she doesn't live her in Charming."

"What!" Jax said.

"What the fuck does that mean?" Happy asked.

"My guess, she's running from someone and the government is helping her. She exist, but on paper she still lives in San Francisco, at an address that's a government building."

"So, what? She's got a new identity?" Tig asked

"No, that's not it, it's just, she's not registered anywhere It's not like a new identity, milder form, basically everything about her points to one point. If you want to contact her you have to go through official channels and they'll relay it to her. It's, well, not complicated, but there is no record of her living here or her kid." Happy knew that not anyone could get that kind of protection, you needed good reasons.

"Did she say anything?" Clay asked Happy.

"No, she said she had moved here four months ago, when I asked why she avoided the question."

"Who sent her to us?" Clay was looking at Jax

"Jack, at the café. It was a favor, Gemma talked to him. We did it off the books."

"Why the fuck would she agree to that?"

"I don't know. She didn't have a insurance on the car and some other stuff. I didn't ask."

"We need to find out what this is about. I don't want this to blow back in our face. I'll have a talk to Gemma. You, Hap, go talk to the girl."

"What?" Why the fuck where they sending him? First Gemma and now Clay.

"You gave her a lift home, you know where she lives and she knows who you are."

"Yeah but..."

"Just find out what the fuck this is about. Fucking Gemma!" Clay said and got up, probably to talk to Gemma.

-o0o-

Ava was lying on the sofa reading when she heard a knock on the door. She wasn't expecting any visitors. She hardly knew anyone in this town, so she walked slowly to Grace's door and closed it soundlessly, she didn't want her to wake up. Then she picked up the baseball bat she had next to the door and stood there, as quiet as possible.

There was another knock on the door, but she didn't move. The third knock and an irritated voice said.

"Ava, I know you're in there, I saw the lights."

It sounded like the biker guy, he had a very distinct voice to say the least. She carefully opened the door with the safety chain still attached.

"What are you doing here?" It was him. It was nine o' clock on a Wednesday, what the hell was he doing here?

"Open the door."

"Why?"

"I just want to talk, open."

She got a bit frightened, she wasn't unfamiliar with bikers, her brother knew a lot about them without being one or even wanting to be one. They weren't all nice enthusiasts, some of them were downright nasty.

He was looking at her and then down to her hand that was holding the bat. "I'm not going to hurt you."

She closed the door again and took of the chain before opening the door and letting him in. She was assuming he wouldn't hurt her, she doubted that the chain would have done much good if he made an effort.

"That chain won't do much you know." He said as if he could read her mind.

"What do you want?"

He looked around and towards Grace's door and then down to the bat she was still holding in her hand.

"You can put that away. I'm not going to hurt you."

She was all of a sudden extremely fed up with him not answering he questions. What the fuck was the point with this? Why was he here?

"Just tell me what you want."

He shrugged and then walked into the kitchen. She followed him, still holding the bat.

"Hey!" she raised her voice "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

He turned around quickly and looked her right into her eyes. She realized that she was wearing sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt with her hair up, she probably wasn't a very intimidating sight even with the bat and he suddenly didn't look like he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Don't talk to me like that."

That really pissed her off. "Don't you dare walking into my apartment and tell me how I can and can't talk to you."

"I'm guessing that mouth is what got you in trouble to begin with." His black eyes were narrowed and he looked as pissed as she felt.

What the fuck! What did he know? She remembered him looking at the bolt locks and the quick look at the hinges. She hoped that he had just jumped to conclusions. Not that he would have found anything even if he did do a check up on her. And then she got really pissed. What was that fucking comment coming from? Like he had some right to judge her? That she deserved some shit.

"Get the fuck out of here!" she said and pointed with the bat against the door.

"Or what, are you going to hit me with the bat?"

"I'm considering it."

He moved fast, she didn't have a chance to even react and then he had taken the bat from her, pulled her arm behind her back and holding her around her stomach. She was scared, but she managed not to scream and only whispered.

"Please, don't hurt Grace." That was all she could think of, she didn't give a shit about what he did to her, as long as he didn't hurt Grace.

He let go of her as he had been burnt, she took a deep breath and turned around, to see what he was going to do.

"I told you, I'm not going to hurt you." And then his eyes went down to her stomach and she realized that her sweater had run up almost to her chest. "What's that?"

"Nothing." She said while pulling it down.

"Doesn't look like nothing."

"Why do you care?"

"Who are you hiding from?"

She was slightly scared but also very annoyed, why was he here? This was none of his business, she just wanted to be left alone. Why the hell had Jack given her the number to and MC-club? There must be other garages in this town.

"Please, I just wanted to have my car fixed, this is none of your concern. Just give me my car back and you won't see or hear from me again."

"Mom?" She flinched when she hear Grace calling from the hallway. She turned around and went to her.

"Sweetie, what are you doing up?"

"Who's here?" She looked into the kitchen and when she saw who it was, she smiled. "Hi, Happy." Was that his name?

"Honey, just go back to sleep."

Grace looked at her. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, Honey, he didn't, I'm fine, I promise. He just wants to talk to me."

Grace was far too smart for her own good and she knew her mom, she could tell that something was wrong, it was almost impossible to lie to her. And it didn't work this time either, she looked towards Happy and before Ava could stop her she walked pass her and looked up at Happy.

"Please, don't hurt my mom." She was holding her arms out, like she wanted to protect her, and Ava felt her heart break, again. She shouldn't even consider that a man would hurt her mom. This was horrible, a small child shouldn't react like this. How the hell did she manage to fuck up this bad?

Happy looked at Grace and then Ava, standing behind her, he was horrified at the look on her face. He felt bad the second he pulled that bat out of her hand, when she asked him not to hurt the kid he felt sick, but now! What the hell had happened to this kid, what had she seen to react this way? Trying to protect her mom, telling him not to hurt her. That just wasn't right.

"I'm not going to hurt her."

Ava took Grace in her arms, "It's going to be fine honey. I promise, he's just here to ask some questions. I'll be fine."

She carried her to her room, he heard mumbles and then she came out again. Even with that tired look on her face, in sweatpants and a long sleeved t-shirt, she was pretty, almost beautiful.

"She's just worried." she said while rubbing her face with her hands, "She's smart, smarter than what's good for her."

He wasn't surprised, she had talked about bikes like a 40-year old mechanic. He felt like an asshole for scaring her, for scaring both of them.

"Who are you hiding from?"

She walked passed him and into the kitchen, "I don't want to stand in the hallway and talk about this." she said and pointed at the closed door behind her.

He followed her and watched her sit down at the table. He sat down in front of her.

"Tell me."

"Her dad. He... I met him when I was, pretty messed up."

"How?"

"My parents died, my brother had... problems."

"What problems?" Not that he really cared about her brother, but he needed to keep her talking. Sometimes it was easier to start by talking about someone else.

"Drugs." She looked up at him and he raised his eyebrows. "He's clean now, has been for six years. But I was, just, I don't know. A mess. It was the usual story, he was nice at first, then he started to get jealous and one day he hit me."

"And you left?"

"No, I stayed for four years, then I got pregnant. I didn't think much of myself, I didn't really care what he did to me, but I just couldn't let him..."

He understood.

"We managed to stay away for a while, but now and then he..." she trailed of and shrugged her shoulders.

"...finds you."

"Yes, and we move again."

"He did those scars on your stomach?"

"Yes." She was looking down on the table. It was probably not all he did to her.

"How do you know Jack?"

"He was a friend of my parents. Jonah didn't know about him, so he helped me, to get a job and an apartment here. He knows I don't have much money and that I don't have insurance and shit and when I needed to service my car he called you. Usually my brother helps me with it."

"Why doesn't your brother help you with money?"

She looked at him with a surprised face, like it was the most stupid question ever. "I don't want his money."

She was one of those, who just had to fix things herself. Look at where that got her.

"Why don't you get a gun?"

"I have a five-year old in my house. I'm not going to keep a gun here."

"That bat isn't going to help you."

"Helped fine until you got here." She said and glared at him. He couldn't stop a smile from twitching in the corners of his mouth. He noticed her seeing it and suddenly she started laughing, that really shocked him. An once she started she didn't seem to be able to stop.

"What?" he finally asked.

She shook her head, still laughing, holding her face in her hands. "What?" He asked again and suddenly he started laughing as well.

"It's just... 'until you got here'..." she started laughing again. "It's not like I get a lot of visitors."

"See, you need something else than a bat."

She started to wipe her face again, "I don't want a gun. It's not safe with Grace here. Besides, if you had been him I wouldn't have hesitated with the bat."

"You can store a gun safely here, she wouldn't be able to hurt herself with it if you did it the right way."

She just shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks, I'll be fine."

That's when it hit him. This shouldn't have been this easy. "Why are you telling me these things?"

"You asked."

"No, that's not why you're telling me this." She didn't answer, just looked at him. "You're going to run again."

"This is none of your concern."

"It is now." Shit, if him coming here, asking questions meant that she would take that kid an run again, it was his fucking business. "I'm not letting you run because of this."

"Who says I'm running?"

"All over your face." She looked at him. "I'll make sure you're safe."

"I'll be fine."

"You need help if you're going to be fine."

"Why do you care about this?" She looked angry again, what was it with some chicks and accepting help? And why did he care? What was it with her, and that scary smart kid of hers, that made him feel like he needed to make sure that they were ok. Besides the fact that he wanted to rip of those clothes and fuck her till the sun came up. But she didn't seem to be in the right state for that.

"Does it matter why I care."

"Look, Happy, if that's you name, I.. apr..." He didn't want to hear that. Again.

"Appreciate, what? You 'appreciate' quite a lot of stuff. Maybe you should accept some help?"

"How are you going to help me?" She still looked angry.

"I'm going to help you help yourself, use a gun, self defense. Maybe I won't be able to disarm you that easily next time. And I'm gonna make sure you don't have to run because of this."

"I still don't understand why you care."

He couldn't answer that question. "Does it matter?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"You need to trust someone."

"And you would be the obvious choice?" She said with a smile. He had to give her a point, he could come off as quite intimidating, he knew that. That was even what he usually aimed for, intimidating people.

"That Jonah, what was he like when you met him?" He saw her jump, look at him, and he knew he got it right. Some handsome, charming dude, without a doubt.

"I see your point." She looked tired, and slightly humiliated. That hadn't been his intention. He got up and she stood up as well.

"So we have a deal?"

"Ok."

"Do you work everyday?"

"No, just part time."

They were at the door. "Tomorrow?"

"No."

"I'll pick you up in the morning, after you've left her at school."

"Ok."

He needed to touch her again, she was standing looking at the floor. When he was reaching for her she flinched and looked at him with frightened eyes.

"I won't hurt you." He said and then he got out. He wasn't sure this was the smart thing to do, get involved. But he felt like he owed her. He scared her, in her own home, she should be able to feel safe there.