Trouble in a Tank Top

“Where is she?”

Rodney Jacobs is slammed against the concrete column in the parking garage of the Los Angeles headquarters of the FBI. The tattooed forearm that is pressed under his chin makes it a struggle for him to breath. He chokes on his breath and drops the files he had in his hands.

“Who?” Rodney gasps out, trying to stare through the dark to see the face of his attacker. And old light over them flicks on for a few seconds before going black again.

He struggles more when he sees the attacker’s face. It wasn't the neck tattoo or the stone-like look on the criminal’s face that frightened Rodney. But, instead, it was the look in his eyes that told Rodney that if he didn't give the answer he wanted, then Rodney may not live to see sunlight again.

It was the look of a man trying to find the mother of his unborn child. It was the look of Antonio Cesar Perry.

“I don’t know!” He choked out, trying to kick his legs out to hit Tony. “She escaped three days ago. They’re trying to find her but she disappeared.”

Tony growls before letting Rodney go and walking away with a slight stomp in his step. Rodney quickly pulls his glock from his pocket and aims with unsteady hands.

“Perry!” he shouts, clicking the safety off his gun. Tony stops mid-step before continuing to leave the scene. “Perry, stop! You are under arr-“

Rodney cannot finish the sentence before there’s a sharp sting in his throat, and blood begins to fill his lungs.

SURVIVE

Ande coos happily as she watches Ruby slowly wake up from her small nap. Natalie was finishing up a cut and Jaxin was barely half way through the outline of a medium sized flash piece that he was using as a space filler for one of his many returning customers. His hands were steady and his shading was impeccable. Ande had the want to get one, but she was never sure of what, exactly. There were so many ideas she had hanging in her head, but right now she was just worried about getting through the week. Once the weekend hit, Jaxin was going to take Ande to where Casey was, and from there she would get to the rest of the guys and, hopefully, Tony, too.

“Thank you so much, come again!” Natalie waves the customer away and recounts the cash in her hands, mouthing the words before she stops on what is the correct number and puts it in the small money bag that hangs under Jaxin’s draft desk. It is not as messy as when she first saw it.

Natalie disappears into the home part of their studio space before coming back and reaching for her little daughter. “How is momma’s baby girl doing today? Did you have a nice nap?”

Ande watches them with a soft smile, and leans back against the comfy leather couch, resting one hand on her own lower belly and the other laying lazily in her lap. Natalie notices and stares at the smooth peachy-toned hand before her lips make an ‘o’ shape and her eyes widen.

“You’re pregnant?” Natalie questions, the words coming out quickly. Ande had not told either of them yet since it really had not been on her mind, but now the cat was out of the bag. Ande nods. Natalie starts jumping up and down with excitement as she turns to Jaxin. “Jaxin! Jaxin!”

The New Zealander finishes the stretch of outline he was on and looks up. The gun stops buzzing as she takes his foot off the pedal. Jaxin’s look of concentration turns into a frown of irritation. He doesn’t like to be interrupted when he’s tattooing.

“Yeah, ladybird?” he says, having the habit of calling Natalie by the little nickname he’s had for her since they first started dating. Natalie continues to jump excitedly, and Ruby just giggles and coos along with her mother.

“Ande is pregnant!”

His frown stays for a few moments before his eyes, also, widen in surprise. The guy he is tattooing looks up from his phone and smiles.

“Congrats!” he says happily and then goes back to whatever he was reading. Jaxin stands up and rips off the black gloves he was wearing, dropping his tattoo gun onto the little surgical table he had right beside him. Natalie’s smile drops and she watches her husband move through the studio, apologizing to the guy and saying he’ll be right back. Natalie follows Jaxin, Ruby still in her arms. Jaxin has a cellphone pressed to his ear within seconds, waiting for someone to pick up on the other side.

“Case?” Jaxin says, glancing over at Ande for a second before looking back to the wall that is decorated with framed pieces of Jaxin’s artwork. “Yeah, we’re going to have to get Ande to you faster than this weekend. She’s pregnant.”

There’s a pause. Both Ande and Natalie can hear Casey shout through the phone.

Jaxin looks back over to Ande. “Does Tony know?” Ande nods, remembering back to that morning in Mikael’s cab with the little cellphone sitting on the dashboard in front of them. Ande remembers the anxiety she felt and the nervous butterflies. Why didn’t she say something? Why didn’t she speak before Mikael did? Maybe she would be back with Tony by now and not having to run around with a hood over her head to just get through public.

“Wait,” the guy in the chair says, looking up from his phone before looking back down with a confused face. “Isn’t this you?” He says, and shows the screen. It’s the Missing Persons picture that had been flashing over the new for the last three minutes. Ande’s expression turns to that of pure horror. Someone else recognized her.

Jaxin hangs up from his call with Casey. Natalie has disappeared with Ruby, but Ande suddenly sees why.

“You didn’t see her,” he says firmly, a slim black handgun in his palm. It is pointed down to the floor, but Ande doesn’t doubt he will use it if needed. “You didn’t hear any of this conversation. Got it?”

The guy nods and stuffs his phone back in his pocket before holding his hands up. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, man.”

“Good,” Jaxin says and puts the gun on his desk. He looks over to Ande and nods his head in the direction of the door that leads to his kitchen. “Go in there with Nat. I’m going to finish with him and then close up for the day.”

Ande does not take any farther direction before disappearing in the same direction Natalie had.

Natalie was in the kitchen, mixing things into a bowl while Ruby was sitting in her high chair, stuffing baby junk food into her mouth while she watches her mother bake. "Can you grab the bag of chocolates?" She says with a sweet voice; her eyes say she's nervous but her smile says she's excited. Ande nods and goes over to the small white plastic bag that had been sitting on the counter since before Ande arrived at the Hall household and pulled out the yellow and brown bag of milk chocolate chips that Natalie was going to put in whatever she was baking.

The sound of Jaxin's tattoo gun is like a natural buzz in Ande's ears now that she usually just ignores it. But it's louder than usual, and it is all her brain can focus on, other than the second heartbeat she swear she feels under her fingers as they rest on her growing belly.

SURVIVE

Vic Fuentes was not a simple man. He did not have simple wants and needs, nor did he have simple thoughts. Mike Fuentes, however, was a simple man. He simply wanted beer and weed and sex. That and money, but he had the money to buy whatever he pleased, with. Mike could be given a sandwich and a cold beer for lunch one day, and he would be a happy man for the rest of the week. Vic, however, was a bit more demanding. He wanted a home cooked meal and a tall glass of milk with a layered chocolate cake for desert.

Maybe that is why Vic had yet to find a woman and Mike was in the midst of (maybe) marrying his girlfriend of three years.

"Mike, man, chill out," Jaime says, sitting back in the pool chair with his curly wet hair dripping down his shoulders and down his arm before landing on the floor. He brings a chilled glass of orange juice and vodka to his lips, drinking the strong mixture without a cringe.

Mike glares at one of his best friends and runs his hands through his thinning hair again before hiding his growing bald spot with one of his snapbacks that he is never seen not wearing.

"You make it sound so easy," he says sarcastically, rolling his eyes and putting his elbows on his knees as he stares at the pool in front of them. Vic just laughs and pats his younger brother on the back.

"C'mon, little bro, is it really that hard? Just pull out the ring and say, 'I like it so I'm going to put a ring on it,' then have Single Ladies play in the background with one of your remixes."

Michael groans and falls back into his chair, staring at the sky. Jaime laughs at Mike's misery and Vic's suggestion. "Seriously, man. Be goofy with it. That's what I did and Jess and I are still going strong."

"I was hoping you two would go ahead and tie the knot by now," Mike says, turning his head to look at Jaime. "Because I know Frenchi is going to want a double wedding now and I just want something simple. Like Vegas. Maybe I should just propose in Vegas and we can go see Elvis."

Jaime and Vic both laugh loudly, knowing the younger Fuentes will actually do just that.

"If you do that I'll whack you so hard you'll have to buy a grill for all those missing teeth."

All the guys jump up at the appearance of Casey and their formerly missing Ande.

"Ande!" Jaime shouts excitedly and flings himself from the pool chair. His hair is still wet, along with his swim trunks, but he doesn't care much at the sight of his friend reappearing. "My little doll is back, whoo!"

Ande laughs, remembering back to the time when Jaime had gone on a Disney binge and watched all the movies he could in one weekend. The first one was Toy Story and when he realized that Ande and Andy sounded just alike, he started calling her his little Toy, but Tony didn't like that because of the context that many got from it, so he just stuck with Doll, instead.

"Hey, hey, share her!" Vic complains before pulling Ande from Jaime's arms and into his own little scrawny ones. Ande wraps her arms around Vic and hugs him back. He shakes her back and forth, tightening those scrawny arms around her until she taps out from the pressure handing on her stomach. Vic drops her gently onto her feet, which Ande is surprised he even picked her off of her feet since he's a good two inches shorter than she is, and looks at her worriedly. She loves his hugs, from the few times he's given them.

"Look at this little rascal," Mike growls playfully and pulls Ande into a headlock before digging his knuckles into her skull.

"Uncle, uncle!" Ande says laughing, but also trying to wriggle from his grasp.

"Gotta say it in Spanish, shorty!"

"Tio, tio!" Ande shouts without a beat and the guys are surprised at how well her accent has disappeared. Adeli was a tough teacher.

Mike releases Ande. She smooths her hair down and looks over to Casey and Jaxin. The guys are greeting their old friends with happy smiles. She then looks to the coast off to the West. To think California is over two thousand miles in that direction. Her home is so far away.

"Did Adeli's cooking make you fatter or something?" Jaime says without a filter, which gets him a smack from Jaxin, Casey, and Vic almost simultaneously. He howls with pain before Casey throws him over his shoulder and tosses him into the pool. It's the middle of January, but a steady 70 degrees in Miami.

Jaxin and Casey look to Ande with questioning looks, wondering if she's going to tell them. Mikael had asked Vic on one of his few updates if Tony had said anything to them about Ande being "sick" but he said no and asked if she was fine. Nothing about a baby, nothing about pregnancy. That was Ande's duty.

"Nah, pregnancy just makes me look fat."

The guys go silent, and they all kind of look at her before Jaime excitedly shouts, "I'm going to be an uncle!"

Vic starts to run around, taking up all the alcohol and cigarettes he can find to get rid of them so no one gets any ideas, while Mike complains and gripes about not being able to drink anymore and that there's going to be another wedding ("...and now Frenchi is going to start poking holes in my condoms and stop taking her pill. Fuck!").

It's an hour or two later when Jaxin and Casey leave to go back to California, and Ande finds herself wandering around the large condo that the guys had used as their safe house for a few days. Most girls would be pissed that they weren't looking for her, but Ande understood that she had gone completely off the map after she was arrested at the bus stop, and she didn't take offense to it. She understood.

The door to the condo opened, and Ande continued to make herself a peanut butter sandwich since she just thought it was the guys coming back from a movie and popcorn run.

"Hey, guys!"

Ande drops the peanut butter covered knife she has in her hand and spins around.

His hair is ruffled and short. His tattoos look dark on his tan skin and his arms have gained more muscle tone. His voice is still light and airy, but it holds just a more maturity in it. In fact, Ande feels like he's matured all over. His eyes have dark rings under them and his ears are completely healed.

Ande feels like she's looking at a new man, but maybe it's the dufflebag he has in his hand that scares her, or the bottle of Jameson he has in the other, or maybe it's the fear of finally settling down someone. Ande still hasn't lived her life, but maybe this is how it's supposed to be. Maybe this is how she's supposed to live her life.

"Tony."

He turns immediately, looking her in the eye. Dark brown meets light brown once again.

Those dull dark eyes turn bright, and the slightly frown he's had on his lips for the last two and a half months forms into one of the biggest smiles she's ever seen him wear. It's the look of a man that has finally found the love of his life.