Jax glared at Bishop for a moment before relenting. He gathered his guys and they helped the merc out to the yard just as Coco was arriving.
                          
"Coco," Bishop waved him into the clubhouse. "Templo. Now."
                          
Catching sight of the merc, he left his sunglasses and scarf on to cover his face to keep his identity as secret as possible.
                          
"What the fuck happened?" Bishop asked seconds after the door shut. "Where's Angel and EZ?"
                          
Coco huffed. "Angel's at the doc, he's gonna be fine. EZ's at the hospital with Katie. It ain't good."
                          
"Shootout?" He asked quickly.
                          
"We thought we killed em' all," he said defensively.
                          
"You should have checked!"
                          
"We got the kid," Coco exclaimed, "Then Angel and Katie got hit so we had to go."
                          
"Where's the kid now?"
                          
"With Angel, she didn't wanna leave him," Coco sighed. "And she didn't ask about her dad either." He said, hoping to keep the Sons as far as possible.
                          
"That's not our choice," Bishop said mournfully. "How bad is she?"
                          
"Waitin' to hear from the prospect," Coco shrugged. "Looked bad, she took a bullet to the back."
                          
"We need to talk about this." Bishop closed his eyes as he sighed, knowing this would be bad for his club and brothers no matter what but he couldn't let this sudden connection to the rebels go unquestioned. "When Angel and EZ get back I want a sit-down."
                          
Coco nodded. "They outta here?"
                          
"I told em' we didn't want the heat, they know we got Galindo on our backs," Bishop explained.
                          
"I'll let you know when I hear from anyone," Coco said on his way out.
                          
Out in the yard on their way to their line of bikes, the merc spoke in a whisper to Jax "He was there. That skinny prick, I know it.
                          
Jax glanced back at the clubhouse, his hired gun's words being more than enough to confirm his suspicions. "I fucking knew it."
                          
"There were two others," he told Jax, never having actually seen Katie.
                          
"Where's my daughter?" Jax asked him.
                          
"I'm gonna bet these brown assholes have her," the man said.
                          
"We're gonna have a talk with Alvarez," Jax growled to the others as they all gathered by the gate. "These assholes are lying."
                          
—
                          
When Katie woke up, before she even opened her eyes, the pain from her back was overwhelming. It was surprising to see she was in a hospital, surprising and scary. That meant it was bad and that terrified her.
                          
"Hola, Miss Reyes," the nurse peeked her head in about twenty minutes after Katie awoke. "Como estas?"
                          
"Ingles, por favor" Katie said to the nurse. Her head was too fuzzy to try to speak Spanish, she was too used to pretending not to know it.
                          
"You're up. How are you feeling?"
                          
"Sore" She looked over at the door. Katie figured Reyes was the name given when she was taken in. "Is anybody here with me?"
                          
"There was a young man," she said with a small smile. "He's been here for hours, I'm not sure where he went."
                          
"How long have I been here?"
                          
The nurse checked her watch. "You came out of surgery about three hours ago."
                          
"Am I okay?"
                          
"I'll send the doctor in," she assured Katie. "If you need anything, press the call button."
                          
Katie nodded. "Okay."
                          
She waited for an hour for someone, Angel, EZ, or Coc,o but no one came back and she was obsessing over what happened and where Charlotte was.  Reaching over she pressed the call button.
                          
"Yes?"
                          
"I want to leave," Katie said confidently. "I'll sign whatever I have to, liability shit, I don't care, I just want out of here."
                          
The nurse's face went dark. "You were shot, ma'am, you almost bled out, I think you need some time to recover."
                          
"I think I need to get the fuck outta here," she said forcefully. "Please."
                          
Scurrying away, the nurse went to find a way to convince Katie to stay. That way, she thought, was EZ. Seeing him as he walked out of the elevators she waved and pointed to the room, explaining Katie's request.
                          
"You can't leave," he said as he stepped into her room and shut the door.
                          
"Fuck," she sighed with relief. "Where's Charlotte? Is Angel okay?"
                          
"They're outside," she explained. "Katie, she won't stop eating," he laughed. "I think Angel's outta cash," EZ laughed.
                          
"He's okay?" She asked with a smile.
                          
"He's fine, he's worried about you," EZ told her. "Gunshot wounds are suspicious and I'm the boy scout, we thought it looked better."
                          
She nodded. "Yeah, I get that."
                          
"You gotta stay," he said again.
                          
"I wanna see her," Katie told him. 
                          
EZ nodded. "You still gonna get out of here?"
                          
"Yeah, I am," she said apologetically. "Is Charlotte okay? She's probably so freaked out, fucking terrified."
                          
"She's surprisingly okay." EZ paused before deciding to tell Katie more than he was meant to. "Angel won't tell you, but this just got really messy," EZ explained. "One of those assholes survived, Coco found him at the yard with SAMCRO."
                          
Katie closed her eyes. "Get me outta here and I'll fix the SAMCRO problem, Angel won't know you told me."
                          
"Is that safe?" He asked her somberly. "I know we're not close, not as close as you and my brother, but I don't want to see anything happen to you."
                          
"And you don't want to see Angel suffer that loss," she added. "I'll be fine. You and the club will be fine. It'll all be fine. It's the least I can do for you guys. You know I never wanted this. I never wanted to put any of you at risk." She covered her mouth as she began to cry. "This was why I didn't want to tell him anything. This is why I didn't want anything to happen between us, but he just, I couldn't stop from falling for him."
                          
"Here, sit up," he said, gently helping her. "I wanna show you something."

                          
Katie slowly made her way to the window, EZ helping her with each step, and glanced out to the row of trees and benches. "What?"
                          
"There," EZ said, pointing to a bench in the corner of the little garden. Katie squinted and saw Angel with Charlotte, sitting together and sharing a snacking. "He couldn't help it either, he never said but I knew how he felt. He swore he was slick," EZ laughed.
                          
"He is an actual angel," she said, her voice cracking. "I know you're the golden child but he is so much better than he realizes."
                          
"I know," EZ said sadly. "Just remember that, if you're gonna leave. Don't just split on him. Okay?"
                          
"I wouldn't do that," she assured him. "Now get me the fuck out of here, EZ, please. I have some shit to settle."