Fate Misunderstood

Sleep was impossible.

Knowing that someone from home was on their way there kept her mind racing all night. Even after Ryan came home from work and curled up next to her in the bed she still couldn't seem to keep her anxiety at bay long enough to drift off to sleep.

Finally around dawn, she gave up trying and she slid gently out of bed, careful not to wake Ryan as she tip-toed to her closet to grab some clothes then out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom.

Once she had showered and gotten dressed, she pulled her damp hair into a ponytail and went into the living room. Lorca was passed out, hanging halfway off of the sofa while Kozik stood by the window with his arms crossed, staring outside.

"Everything okay?" she asked softly.

He turned to look over his shoulder and nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. "You're up early."

She frowned as she reached over to turn on the lamp sitting on the desk behind her. "Yeah, couldn't sleep. Too much going on, I guess."

"You have no idea," he muttered under his breath but she didn't hear it.

"So want some breakfast? How many guy are downstairs?"

He chuckled as he left the window and followed her into the kitchen where she began pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards. "Too many for you to be cookin' for."

"Well, there's no reason they shouldn't get to have a nice breakfast too, just because they're not actually sitting in my apartment." She grinned at the look on his face in reaction to the shot she'd just taken at him. "Even though you are my favorite Tacoma boy," she added quickly.

Kozik rolled his eyes at her attempt to redeem herself as he leaned back against the counter and crossed his bare arms over his chest. "Have it your way. There's four of them downstairs, plus me and Lorc."

"Guess it's a good thing I went to the grocery store before you boys got here then." She pulled out a full carton of eggs out of the fridge and set them onto the counter next to him then grabbed the ten pound bag of potatoes that she'd purchased on her last grocery shopping trip. She began pulling out ingredients from the cupboards and set them all out on the counter before pausing to look back at him. "French toast or waffles?"

"Definitely waffles."

She got to work quickly, mixing up the batter while instructing him to get the waffle iron and plug it in to preheat. After she had poured the batter into it, she immediately started with the potatoes, peeling and grating until they were ready to be cooked in the frying pan.

The next thing that had to be cooked was the bacon. She grabbed the pack out of the fridge and tore it open, laying the strips in the already hot frying pan. Kozik just watched her silently as she went around the kitchen, pulling things out of cupboards or the fridge before circling quickly back to whatever she was cooking on the stove at that particular point. By the time she had finished, there was a large breakfast of eggs, hash browns, waffles, and bacon ready to served and eaten.

She was busy putting everything into big serving bowls when she paused to look over her shoulder. "Go wake up your friend. And I guess the boys downstairs can take turns coming up?"

"I'll go let 'em know you cooked for 'em."

Kozik left the kitchen and Juliette went about her business, putting everything into bowls and setting those bowls on the dining room table, then setting places for everyone. While she was getting some beers from the fridge, Ryan emerged from the bedroom in just his boxers, yawning as he rubbed his eyes.

Before she could even warn him that everyone was coming up to eat, the door swung open and Kozik came inside, followed shortly by two of the four men who were on watch downstairs. They all took seats around the table and began eating while Ryan went back to the bedroom to get dressed.

It took all of ten minutes for them to finish eating and the two men from downstairs immediately got up after saying a thank you and went back downstairs to send up the other two. She began cleaning up while they started eating and Ryan sat on the kitchen counter eating a protein bar. "I made plenty of food. You don't have to eat that."

"I'd rather not have to go in there to get it."

She sighed and shook her head as she washed one of the frying pans she had used to cook with. "I know they must make you uncomfortable and I'm sorry."

"Uncomfortable? There's a bunch of bikers sitting in my girlfriend's living room right now, giving me nasty looks when I walk by. They have fucking guns on their belts and yet you just seem completely comfortable with them hanging around! They're criminals, Jules!" She looked at him slightly surprised at his words but he exhaled loudly, running his hands over his face. "I did some research during my break last night. They're a motorcycle gang-- a criminal enterprise. Yesterday, I told you I'd let it go for now, but I can't, Jules. This is serious."

A forceful knock on the front door snapped her out of her daze and she swallowed hard as she quickly dried her hands. "Sorry," she muttered as she passed by him to go out of the kitchen.

She froze on the spot when she stepped foot into the living room and saw her newest guest standing by the door next to Kozik. A smile automatically made its way onto her face as she quickly crossed the room to throw herself into his arms. Tig chuckled as he picked her up in a hug and kissed the side of her head. "Hey, baby girl."

Ryan watched from the doorway as some strange man held his girlfriend off the floor for a long moment before finally setting her down. The door was pushed open farther and another man stepped inside the apartment, his eyes scanning the surroundings before finally focusing on Juliette. He just looked like a criminal. Everything about him screamed it, from the tattoos inked into his scalp to his black hoodie to the look on his face.

As soon as Tig had let her go, Juliette turned her head and caught sight of the man standing behind her. She did a double take to look at him again and his dark eyes locked with her widened blue ones. It was like everything was in slow motion as they stood there staring at each other until finally she smiled and slowly walked forward, throwing her arms around his neck as she pulled him in for a close hug.

Just watching them, Ryan could feel that there was something between them and it caused his temper to rise. Christina emerged from her bedroom, ruffling her wild blonde hair and yawning as she came to a stop next ot him. "Who the fuck is that guy?"

"Do you think she knows about us? Like she's doing this to get back at me?"

Christina rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her small chest. "Ryan, she's my best friend but she's totally clueless. And she's way too nice. Even if she had found out about us, she wouldn't do anything to get back at you."

"She's never looked at me like that," he said quietly as he watched his girlfriend with her newest guest from across the room.

"Well to be fair, you've never looked at her like he is."

Kozik dropped his hand onto Juliette's shoulder and she momentarily looked away from Juice to look up at him. "The guys said thanks. Now that your boys are here, they headed out."

"But you're staying?"

He exchanged looks with Tig then shook his head. "Not for much longer."

"Alright now, boys," she sighed, grabbing Juice's hand and pulling him over to the loveseat. "Time to explain." Juice sat down next to her while Tig and Kozik took seats on the sofa, leaving the empty space between them. "What's going on?"

"Well this has nothing to do with me," Kozik said, rising to his feet.

"Sit your ass down," she grumbled. Kozik and Tig both looked at her somewhat surprised and amused but he did what she said and dropped back down onto the sofa. "Now, tell me. I haven't heard from you boys in five years and now you're suddenly at my door? This has to be major. So just say it."

"It's about the kid," Tig began gently. Juliette squeezed Juice's hand tightly as worry and dread filled her entire body. "He's been kidnapped."

"Oh my God," she whispered, her hand going up to cover her mouth. "By who? Why?"

"One of our Irish contacts, Cammy Hayes. He heard some information that Gemma killed his son so he took Abel in retaliation."

"Did she?"

"What?"

"Mom. Did she kill that guy's son?"

Tig shook his head. "No. This ATF bitch did it and framed her."

Juliette leaned back against the sofa, sighing heavily as she shook her head. "I can't believe this. So you guys are tracking him down, right?" she asked, looking to Juice, who she assumed would know the most about it, given that he was the intelligence officer.

"We're workin' on it. Puttin' in inquiries, gettin' some money together to get trackers on him," he replied, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Uh, there's something else too, kid," Tig put in reluctantly.

"God, what else?" she sighed exasperated.

"Gemma's got a warrant out now. Wanted for murder. But she's on the run."

"Jesus Christ, Ma." She shook her head and looked around, her eyes finding Ryan and Christina, who were listening to the conversation with completely horrified looks on their faces. "Where is she?"

"Unser took her somewhere safe."

"Fucking hell, she's with the chief?!"

"She's innocent, Jules. She ain't runnin' cause she's guilty."

"Running makes her look guilty, Tig." Juliette ran her hands over her tired eyes and exhaled loudly. "But that's it? Everything else is fine, nobody died or anything."

Tig and Juice exchanged glances but neither of them wanted to have to break the last part of their news to her. "Yeah," Tig finally replied.

"Good."

Juice looked down at their enterwined hands and he noticed the silver bracelet on her wrist. He reached over to run his fingers along the chain, shaking his head. "I can't believe you still wear this."

She looked down at the bracelet that he had given her the day she left Charming and smiled. "Why? You gave it to me."

"And the necklace from Jax," he added, noticing the golden bullet that hung from the chain around her neck.

"What can I say? I guess I missed you guys."

"Not more than we missed you."

She bit down on her lip to keep from smiling as she looked up at him, but Christina cleared her throat behind them, making Juliette snap out of it and turn to look at the two people standing in the corner. "Oh, um, guys this is my boyfriend Ryan and my roommate Christina." Christina shoved Ryan forward, forcing him to walk over to the living room while she followed behind him.

Both Tig and Juice stared Ryan down, trying to size him up when he came into the room. Now that Juliette had said the word boyfriend, the room was filled with tension. "Boyfriend?" Tig finally said, breaking the silence. "What do you do, kid?"

"I'm a resident at Seattle General." Juliette could tell that it really irritated Ryan that Tig had called him a kid and she stared hard at the man, hoping he would look at her so she could signal him to knock it off, but he didn't.

"Doctor, huh? Impressive." The tone of Tig's voice made it clear that he actually wasn't impressed at all. She finally was able to make eye contact with Kozik and she tried to communicate to him that a change of subject was desperately needed.

He took the hint and quickly sat up straighter, clearing his throat. "Julie made breakfast, boys. There's probably still some left if you're hungry." The idea of food got both of them and they stood up without question to go over and scavenge what was left of the breakfast she had made.

Juliette sighed in relief, now that Tig had forgotten about hassling Ryan for the moment, but she knew that the peace wouldn't last long. She also wondered whether or not Juice was going to jump into that conversation with Tig, considering what had happened between them the last time they had seen each other.

Then again, he probably didn't still feel that way.