Dani felt her body tense in the darkness, "Jax?"

"Don't be scared, Dani. I wanted...no, I needed to talk to you."

"By messing with my light bulbs and scaring the hell out of me? What are you doing here?" Dani asked as relief coursed its way through her.

She could hear a soft chuckle before he continued.

"It's only been a day and I already missed my Panda Eyes. What does that say about me?"

"My Panda Eyes? Did you already forget that you dumped me yesterday?" Dani steadied herself against a wall, "Why did you mess with the lights?"

"I don't want you to see me right now," his voice sounded scratchy as though he had been yelling for hours.

"What's wrong, Jax?"

"Why are you assuming something is wrong?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you're too much of a narcissist to not let me see that handsome face of yours."

Again, quiet laughter filled the room, "So you admit I'm handsome?"

"What's wrong Jax?" Dani forced her voice to sound firm. "This isn't like you. Why won't you let me see you?"

"There are some things you'll never understand, Dani. I just wanted to be near you. Even if it was for a few moments. I should probably get going now."

 "What the hell? You wanted to be near me but now you're leaving? What's going on with you? Why won't you come out and say it? It's not as though you can hide anything from me. I can see people's nightmares, remember? I know what you're most afraid of."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So what's my biggest fear, Panda Eyes?"

"Me."

"And I'm supposed to be the narcissistic one?" Jax smirked.

"I'm not saying this for my ego. It's true. You're afraid of me. Or maybe it's your feelings for me but either way it all boils down to me."

"I'm not afraid of my feelings."

"I knew you were arrogant but I never took you for a liar, Jax. You are too afraid of your feelings and I totally understand. I've been there. Hell, I'm still there. Sharing your heart is a gamble some people don't want to risk. That's nothing to be ashamed of or hide yourself in the dark for. The idea of being hurt is scary. Just admit it. You're afraid of losing me. Isn't that why you broke up with me?"

"You dreamt of me?" Jax asked softly. "I was hoping you would."

"Why are you so afraid of your brother?"

"Dani, you don't understand."

"No, I don't. I don't understand how you can be so afraid of a man that you'd break up with me after promising not to leave me! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I thought you were better than that."

"I didn't have a choice! He knew where Gladys was at and he threatened to hurt you."

"So why not explain to me what was going on?"

"Carter was probably watching us. How could I tell you I was being forced to break up with you and get a real reaction out of you? You think I enjoyed yesterday's scene? I hated it! It hurt like hell!"

"You don't have to tell me, Jax. I was there, remember? And unlike you, I didn't know what was going on."

"Dani-"

"No, Jax. Spare me your explanations. Did he threaten to kill me? Was that it?"

"You're making it sound like this is some kind of joke," Jax fumed. "He's killed before. You think he won't kill again? I didn't want you in danger."

"So then why are you here now? How have things suddenly changed so that it's safe now?" Dani stretched her arms out and attempted to find the lamp that was by her sofa. "You think turning off the lights in my apartment was going to help?"

"I told you- I don't want you to see me."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Jax struggled for a good answer.

"Because what?"

"Because...I'm ashamed of myself."

Dani's fingers wrapped around the small knob to her lamp which she twisted. A soft glow filled the room and Dani gasped.

"Jax! Jax, what happened to you?"

He had two black eyes and a busted lip.

"I ran into a truck," Jax laughed.

"Why are you laughing? This isn't funny."

Jax shrugged, "I deserved it. What else can I do but smile or laugh. I'm not going to cry."

"Who did this to you?" Dani asked as she sat close to him.

"Why? Are you going to beat him up for me?" Jax joked.

"Maybe."

"No need. It was Roberto."

"Roberto did this? Why?" Dani asked.

"Because we found his wife."

"Isn't that a good thing? Why would he beat you up? You're not making any sense."

"My brother told me where to find Gladys but there was a fire in the building she was in."

"Poor Gladys. Is she alright?"

"She had a miscarriage and along with all of her burns, her vocal chords were damaged. She can't even speak."

Dani sat next to Jax,  the news weighing her down like freshly poured concrete.

"Roberto blames me," Jax admitted.

"Why? It's not your fault."

Jax leaned back against the sofa and closed his already swollen eyes, "Because my brother is the one that hurt Gladys."

"Carter? Well, it's not like you can control what your brother does. I didn't realize Roberto was such an idiot," Dani scooted next to Jax, her hand itching to touch his face.

"He's not. He's overcome with grief and I don't blame him. I deserved it. If I had stopped Carter years ago, this never would have happened."

"Jax, you need to stop blaming yourself. Not everyone walks such a thin line of right and wrong. You're not responsible for the actions of others."

"No, but he's my brother. You know something really twisted? It actually felt good to have Roberto pound on me. It was like someone was finally punishing me."

"I didn't know you were into S&M, Jax. I'm not, by the way," Dani joked.

Jax grinned and immediately groaned at the pain from moving his mouth, "Dani, you're right about my biggest fear. It is you."

"I know."

"If he finds out that you're still in my life, he'll come after you. I can't...I couldn't take it if he hurt you too."

"I know."

"I love you, Dani."

"I know."

"Is that all you can say?" Jax asked.

"No. I can say other things too."

"Like what?" Jax waited patiently for her to continue. Her voice was soothing the pain in his body.

"I love you too."

Jax placed a hand on his heart and sighed, "How am I supposed to pretend we're not together?"

"Who said we're together? You broke up with me, remember? You haven't even apologized yet."

"Dani, you know-"

"I expect an apology Jaxass or I'm not forgiving you. Do you know how hard it was for me? On top of that Oliver closed down the diner. My coworker Donovan had to take me home. Speaking of which, we went downtown today and got mugged. You're not the only guy around me today that's been hurt."

"Donovan? Who's Donovan?"

"My coworker. I told you about him. He was the one that Dolores kept flirting with before she went underground."

"Underground?"

Dani shrugged, "You know what I mean. Before she went into protection."

"I've never met this Donovan."

"So?"

"So I want to meet him if he's hanging out with my girlfriend. I don't want him to get the wrong idea and think you're available."

"Please, you sound like some sort of caveman. Women sometimes do have male friends. Besides, Donovan knows you're my boyfriend."

"It's not just that. I've thought about this. Carter could be anywhere. You can't trust anyone, not even this Donovan guy."

"You think Donovan is your brother? Do you know how crazy you sound right now?"

"Yes, but I don't care. My brother is a rich guy, remember? I haven't seen him in years and he went off the radar for my family as well. All my mom got were a few postcards from Spain,Mexico, and Brazil. Money enables wickedness. Don't forget that Dani. For all we know, he changed his appearance, his name, everything."

"I'm pretty sure that Donovan isn't your brother."

"How can you know that?"

"Because, I just do. He's a good guy. If you really want to meet him, it's fine by me. I'm not sure what good it'll do you. What if your brother got plastic surgery? What if you've been close to him and you didn't even recognize him?"

"I'd know my own brother."

"Are you sure about that? If he wanted to stay hidden, it wouldn't be that hard."

"I know," Jax admitted. 

"Hey, I thought that was my line," Dani joked.

"I'd like to think that I'd recognize Carter but the truth is I never really knew him, did I? When did our lives get so complicated?"

"Jax? Why are you so afraid of your brother? As long as I've known you, you've never been afraid of anything but when it comes to him...you seem...I don't know...unsure of yourself."

"Because I am. I don't have a clue what he's up to or what he looks like. Does he look the same? Did he change? Then there's the fact that I have no idea how my brother turned out to be such a sociopath. Why does he hate me so much that he's making it a point to target everyone in my life? There's no reasoning with him either. It's like talking to the wall."

Dani stayed quiet while Jax continued.

"Maybe if I knew his weakness," Jax whispered. "Then I'd know how to fight back. The problem is, I don't know his weaknesses. I have no way of finding out either."

"That's not true," Dani said.

"What's not true?"

"There is a way to find his weakness."

Jax opened his eyes, "No, don't even think about it."

"Too late."

"Get the thought out of your head because it's not going to happen."

"It'll solve so many problems at once," Dani argued.

"No."

Dani stood up, "It's not your choice to make alone. I'm helping you or we'll never get over this. If I can get my hands on him, maybe I'll find out his worst nightmare and we can use that to bring him down. Think about it, you don't have proof that he killed Vivian. If he hurt Gladys and she can't speak...what good will that do us?"

"Dani-"

"So it's decided, right? I'm going to lure in your brother."

"And how do you plan to do that? I still can't track down his whereabouts."

"Easy. I'm going to keep dating you."

------------------------------

Oliver wondered if he looked strange while sitting on a park bench in the middle of the night. A woman sat next to him and Oliver felt a bubble of excitement. 

"It's been a while," he whispered. "Why did you want to meet?"

"I need your help," Helen, Dani's mother, said.

"Even more so?" Oliver asked. "I've been helping you all this time."

"I know. Dani thinks of you as family."

"I am her family."

"I'm not here to argue."

"What do you want?" Oliver couldn't afford to be kind to her. She'd abandon him as quickly as she had in the past. "Did you dream something bad?"

"It's about Dani."

"I know. That's the only reason I'm meeting you," Oliver admitted. 

"I need you to take her away from here. Take her far away from everyone she knows."

"What? How could I possibly do that?"

"I don't know but as her mother I'm begging you to please help me with this."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because her life depends on it."

Oliver shook his head, "What are you talking about? Tell me straight."

"If you don't take her away, someone close to her is going to cause her death."