Like a fresh painting spoiled by water, everything around her appeared blurred and distorted. Dani wiped at the tears in her eyes while thoughts of Jax in danger traipsed through her head. Both Oliver and Calvin had refused to take her to the hospital, forcing Dani to make her way to the bus stop.

She passed King's Diner, a twinge of regret filling her as she remembered Oliver's disappointed look when she left her apartment.

"Not now, Dani," she muttered to herself, pushing aside the emotions that were urging her to explain her reasoning to the man she considered a father.

Angry curses in front of the diner caught her attention. Two men were ganging up on a blonde man. Dani continued at her rushed pace towards the bus stop.

"I don't want any trouble guys," the blonde said loudly.

Dani stopped and slowly turned her head back to the men. She forced herself to focus on their target. It was Donovan.

"Dammit," she hissed.

"I don't know what you did to piss this guy CJ off, but he wants you gone," one of the men sneered as his shaved head glistened with sweat.

"I don't know a CJ," Donovan held his hands up in front of him. "You've got to be looking for someone else."

"No, it's you pal," the other thug laughed. "We got a picture and everything. He hired us to hurt you."

"Please, don't do this," Donovan begged. "I swear I don't know a CJ."

"Well he knows you and he paid us good money to get rid of you," the shaved man said, dragging Donovan towards the back of the diner.

A wave of nausea rolled through Dani as she realized her friend was about to be hurt. She clutched her phone and called the police.

"Hello, I'm at King's Diner off of Main Street and there's two men attacking my friend. Please send someone quickly."

Dani didn't stay on the line. She knew Jax was waiting at the hospital and as much as she wanted to see him, she knew he'd do the exact same thing if he were in her situation. Dani pulled out a small pink tube from her purse and ran to the back of the diner.

"Hey!" she shouted as one of the men kicked Donovan to the ground. "I called the cops! They're on their way!

"No, Dani! Get out of here!" Donovan croaked. His knees and palms were on the ground and blood streaked down his chin.

"Look here Pauly. She wants to play," the bald man grinned at his partner.

"I should warn you two that my boyfriend is a detective."

"We don't care," Pauly said, taking a step closer to Dani.

"You should."

He took another step closer and Dani's hand tightened around the pink tube she had hidden in her palm.

"Well your boyfriend isn't here now and it's going to take a while for the cops to show up," the bald man said. "So why should we care if your boyfriend is a detective?"

Pauly was now less than a foot away from Dani.

"Because a few weeks ago he wanted to make sure I could defend myself and bought me this," Dani held up her hand and pressed the nozzle of the pink tube.

Pauly grabbed his face and screamed, "Mace!"

"You're going to pay for that!" the bald man ran forward but Dani sprayed her pink tube at him as well.

"Donovan, hurry and get up! We need to get out of here!" Dani cried as Donovan slowly rose to his feet. She grabbed his hand and the two sprinted away from the diner.

Once she felt they were far enough away, she dropped his hand and took in her friend's wounded appearance. His hair was askew, his mouth was bleeding, and both of his bare arms had bruises and cuts.

"Your shirt has blood on it," Dani said softly.

"Yeah, somehow I think that's the least of my problems," Donovan groaned. "That was dangerous Dani. You shouldn't have done that."

"So what was I supposed to do? Watch my friend get beaten to a bloody pulp? It's bad enough that Jax-" she stopped mid-sentence as a bubble of emotion caught in her throat.

"Jax what?" Donovan asked.

"He's in the hospital. There was some kind of explosion and he was too close. I was on my way to see him when I saw you getting attacked. Who the heck is CJ?"

Donovan tried shrugging, "I'd pay good money to know the answer to that question. They kept saying he wanted me gone. I was just going to the diner to give Oliver my notice when those two guys attacked."

"You were giving your notice?" Dani asked.

Donovan looked away, "Yeah. You know I've always wanted to work on French cuisine. I got a job at a restaurant in the next town over."

"So you're just going to quit?" Dani asked.

"Yeah. Oliver said that he'd be there but he wasn't."

"Now you're leaving too," Dani murmured.

"Well it's not like there's a real reason for me to stay," Donovan said lightly. "I have to do what makes me happy. Maybe it's a sign that I really should leave since I just got jumped at the place I was trying to quit. I still can't believe you saved me."

"Well I had to do something."

"Still, you were on your way to see Jax but you stopped to help me. That means a lot. I know how important he is to you."

"I did what was right. Besides, you're my friend. I care about you. Not that you care about me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Donovan asked as they made their way to the bus stop.

"You're leaving King's Diner. First Dolores, then Oliver, and now you. On top of that, there's everything with Jax. I feel like I'm being tested or like someone's trying to mess with me. Like someone wants me all alone or something."

A small shadow of a smile made its way on Donovan's face, "Well if I was grading you, you'd totally pass and I'm not leaving you just because I'm getting a new job. You can always text me or whatever." 

Donovan stuck his right hand out and Dani stared at his bare arm now covered with red welts, "Friends?"

"Of course we're friends," Dani slapped his hand away. "Are you coming with me to the hospital? We can call the police again from there."

"No thanks. I don't need medical attention and it'd just be another bill I can't afford. I want to go home and take care of my bruised ego. That's twice I got hurt in front of you."

Dani sighed, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You need to see a doctor."

"Don't worry about me. Here comes the bus. Don't worry too much about Jax either. From what you and Dolores have told me, he sounds like he's a fighter. I'm sure he'll be fine. Besides, he has you to get well for. You're the type of woman to change a man. Did you know that, Dani?"

"Donovan-"

"Hurry get on," Donovan urged her. "Thanks again, Dani. I'm glad I was able to meet you."

"You sound like we're never going to see one another again," Dani frowned.

"Do I? I was just trying to sound cool," Donovan chuckled. "I'm kidding. I just want you to know that I'm glad I met you even if it was only meant to be as friends."

Dani gave an awkward smile, "Donovan-"

"Don't say it, Dani. I know you care about me. Just get on the bus."

"Make sure you see a doctor if you're still not feeling well later," Dani urged as she entered the bus. She took a seat near the window and waved him goodbye as the bus lunged forward. She was watching from the window as one of the thugs from earlier came up from behind Donovan. Dani rushed to the back of the bus, yelling at the driver to stop.

"Sit down! We're not stopping!" the driver shouted.

Dani watched in horror as a car pulled up and Donovan was pushed inside.

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

"Hurts like hell, doesn't it?"

"I had no idea it would be this bad," Jax muttered. "Feels like a damned train ran me over."

"As long as it's believable, that's all that matters. Tristan was adamant about calling Dani but I told him not to," Roberto said as he stared at the linoleum tiles between his feet.

"Yeah, I don't want Dani here. It's too dangerous," Jax groaned. He looked across the room to see Gina Goldfisck and grimaced. "How's she doing?"

"Still unconscious. I can't believe she was there at the same time you were. It's a good thing you parked away from the hospital. Otherwise someone else could've been hurt. The blast shouldn't have been very big but you two were still too close. As it is, it's just your car and you two that were affected."

"Crappy timing. I wasn't sure when the damned thing would go off. I thought I had an hour so I wasn't worried about anyone else getting hurt," Jax sighed. "Why didn't they give her a separate room?"

"I didn't give them a choice. You're footing the bill anyway so I told them to put you together. If your brother finds out about our plan...hell, if anyone finds out about our plan, we're going to be in so much trouble," Roberto still wouldn't look at Jax.

"Roberto?" Jax called out to his partner. "I'm sorry about Gladys."

Roberto exhaled through his teeth, "No, I'm sorry. I was angry yesterday and I took it too far. It doesn't matter how angry or upset I was. I had no right to do that. I'm still not sure why you even let me kick your ass."

"I told you, my brother Carter would already be behind bars if I had done something years ago."

"You can't guarantee that," Roberto said softly. "Anyway, I'm sorry. You can't control what someone else does and you even went in a burning building to save my wife."

"Yeah, I'm a regular Superman," Jax scoffed.

"You kind of are. Of course you didn't want Gladys hurt either. It's just that...when he called me, he sounded really convincing."

"I know."

"He said you chose her to be hurt over Dani and I believed him."

"Partner, I was never given a choice. If I had been, I would've chosen myself to be the victim."

"I know," Roberto mumbled. "Anyway, I'm sorry about yesterday."

"It's okay. We have a plan now. A very drastic plan but it's all we got. Otherwise Dani will be throwing herself in danger and I can't risk that."

"You do realize we've broken quite a few laws, right?" Roberto reminded Jax.

"I know."

"I'm not like you...a filthy rich guy that doesn't need to work. I have bills to pay," Roberto groaned. "If I lose my job over this, you're supporting me for life, got it?"

Jax chuckled, "We needed to get his attention and this was the way. Your brother-in-law is with Gladys?"

Roberto nodded, "Yeah. It's strange. I don't normally see him and lately he's been around all the time. First with the Majestic Waters case and now this."

"How come you didn't see him?" Jax asked, wanting to think about anything else but his brother, Carter.

"He'd been out of the country for a bit before coming back to become a detective. He worked with some security group in Asia. Since he came back, he mostly kept to himself. Before he left, he and Gladys were always in contact. Not so much anymore. He even left earlier when Gladys was first brought in."

"You didn't ask him where he went?" Jax asked.

"No. I figured he was trying to cope as best as he could and maybe he needed some time to himself. I'm not even sure why I'm bringing it up. I guess it just made me think of you and your brother. You two have grown so far apart."

"That kind of happens when your brother murders the woman you loved."

"Loved?" Roberto asked, a shadow of a grin tugging at his lips.

"Yes, past tense."

"Dani must be one special woman," Roberto whistled.

"That she is," Jax nodded. "Which is why I need to keep her safe from Carter."

"Well if you knew what he looked like, it would help. I saw your picture of when he was younger and had one of the computer geeks manipulate it to see if we could get a better idea of what he looks like now," Roberto pulled out his phone and flashed an image in front of Jax. "Does this guy look familiar to you?"

Jax shook his head, "No, but Carter could've easily gotten plastic surgery. Hell, for all I know he could've turned himself into a woman. I once read an article by that reporter, Eva Lewis, where a guy that hadn't been seen in years ended up being a woman. Crazy things happen."

"Where am I?" a voice croaked from their left.

Jax and Roberto both turned to see Gina sitting up in her hospital bed. She was pulling the IV out of her arm.

"What are you doing?" Roberto asked. "You'll hurt yourself. Do you want me to call a nurse?"

"No, I want to know why the hell I'm in a hospital room with you two," Gina shoved away Roberto's hands. "The last thing I remember was a blast in the parking lot. Was it a bomb?"

"You and Jax were unlucky enough to get hurt," Roberto told her.

"You two are bad luck," Gina muttered. "I only came by to give your wife some flowers. How is she?"

Roberto cleared his throat, "She's hanging in there. Thank you for the flowers. Even though you didn't get to give them to her, it's the thought that counts."

"Yeah? Well now I'm thinking I need to get out of here," Gina said as she attempted to stand and wobbled.

Roberto's steadied her, "You're not going anywhere. You're still too out of it."

"I'm fine," Gina protested. "I just need to get home."

"Why do you want to leave so badly?" Jax asked as he saw the anxious look in her eyes.

"I'm fine," she answered. "Why should I be in a hospital if I'm fine?"

"That's not a good enough reason for you to be pulling out your own IV," Jax said.

"I hate hospitals. I don't want to be in the same room as you two. If I do, I'll probably wind up dead. I don't want to be here. Are those all good enough reasons?" Gina pushed the button to call the nurse. "Where are my clothes?"

Roberto pointed to the neatly folded garments near her hospital bed.

"I'm going to get dressed and leave. You two can explain to the nurse what's going on."

She scurried to the bathroom and Roberto shook his head, "She's a strange duck that one."

"Duck?"

"Well I can't call her a goldfish. She was just in an explosion. That would be insensitive."

"Forget I asked," Jax sighed. "You can go back to Gladys. I'll be fine here. Thanks for telling Tristan not to let Dani know what happened. I'll tell her I'm working on a case or something. The last thing I need is her showing up to the hospital."

"Or her knowing you're using yourself as bait. I get the feeling she wouldn't like that," Roberto made his way to the door before turning back to Jax. "Again, I'm sorry partner."

"It's okay," Jax assured him. "You're helping me and that's all that matters."

"I'll do anything to catch whoever hurt Gladys. Even if it ends up killing me."