A/N I do not own/create Sons of Anarchy.

Chapter 1

Gemma Morrow hung up the phone and gazed out the window pensively. She took in the concrete lot and the familiar cuts milling about amongst Harley's and sighed. She rubbed her forehead and worried. She was a mother, it was what she did. But this time it was warranted.

There weren't many founding members left. And most of them had family who either drifted away from the Club or didn't. It was harder on the daughters. The sons of a Son turned out like Jax and Opie. Patching in, dreaming of a cut since they could know what it was. But the girls were harder to fit into the mold. That's why, she assumed, why Goliath's daughter had left Charming to go to College. It was a damn good opportunity in Gemma's opinion. Goliath had founded the Club and his only child had been his daughter Emily. Emily's Mom had raised her as far away from the Club as possible but turned out to be a junkie so Emily was given back to Goliath. Goliath had loved that girl like no other. Gemma had never seen a Father so proud of his daughter the day that Emily got accepted to UCLA. Goliath had died that year and Emily had gone to college and that was the last they had seen of her within the Charming border.

They heard from her. She, Clay, and Piney with Jax and Opie had seen her graduate college and she knew personally that Clay had made sure that she had a little extra cash and a little extra set of eyes on her while she was up there. After college…teaching degree…if Gemma could recollect right she had assumed that she'd come back to Charming. Instead she procured a wealthy young fiance. Another fine opportunity that Gemma couldn't disagree with. They had all made the run down there to see her get married. It seemed to be a fairy tale happy ending for Emily.

At the time.

Anger boiled in Gemma's chest as her mind wandered over the phone conversation she just had with Emily. Emily had always kept in contact with them, always been a part of the family in her distant way. Her Mom was a ditz but Emily took after her old man in that she was sensible and loyal. Gemma never had a daughter, I guess she considered all the girls born into the club daughters in a way. But Emily hadn't had a solid mother around growing up. She had been damn happy to step in for her crank whore mother. And what she had learned…what she suspected made her angry. Iron hot angry, that crackled and sizzled as she waited for when she could take aim and shoot and kill.

Gemma took a drag of her cigarette and went out into the yard.

"Hey Prospect." She ordered. "Go go get Clay and Jax. Tell them to meet in the office. I need to talk them pronto."

The scraggly looking Prospect scrambled to do as she dictated and she shook her head at his blatant tripping. She still wasn't sure how the hell he kept his bike upright.

The prospect in question found Jax and Clay in the Clubhouse with Piney.

"Gemma wants to talk to you Clay…and Jax..both of you. She said to meet her in the office." The Prospect blurted out tripping over a invisible something and landing on his face.

"What about?" Clay asked gruffly.

"I don't know." The Prospect said shoving himself up.

Their beers clinked heavily against the bar as they set them down and headed across the yard to the office. The California heat rested heavily on their leathered shoulders as they quipped about what she had to 'talk' to them about.

The Queen sat in her chair finishing off her smoke when they came inside.

"What's this all about –" Clay started.

"Goliath's kid is coming home." She interrupted.

"Emily?" Jax started with a grin but it faded when he realized that this was news for the entire Club and not just for their ears. "Is she okay?"

"I'm not for sure but I'm guessing not. She called me and said that she was coming in tonight. And wanted to see you two first thing in the morning." She replied. "My guess is it has something to do with that rich husband of hers."

"The rich guy?" Clay said easing onto the desk.

"Yea. I think it ended badly. She sounded pretty shaky when she called." Gemma.

"Where's she staying? Did he hurt her?" Jax spitted out. Jax had grown up with Emily as practically his kid sister. He and Ope had played big brother to her plenty of times. Hell, he and Ope had gotten her drunk her first time. He held her hair as she puked her guts out and cussed them out. Anger couldn't describe what he would feel if it was true, if that asshole had laid hands on her.

"She still got her old man's house." Gemma answered thinking of the crooked little cabin that Goliath had loved so much. It was nestled by their house which was good. "And I'm not sure, she wanted to talk to you both first thing in the morning."

"Well whatever it is…She's family, we take care of family. Right son?" Clay said with finality.

"Absolutely, Pops." Jax agreed. "Whatever is, SAMCRO will take care of it."

The sound of her cell phone ringing sharply and shrilling into the air dragged Emily out of her deep nearly-comatose state of sleep. Then as she moved she froze as dull pain sunk its way into her body once again. Groaning she pulled herself out of her bed and sat there acclimating to the room she had crashed in.

It was her old room with its teddy bears and pictures from high school . A framed picture of her father was by her bedside. She picked it up carefully and cradled it in her hands gently. It had been a long time since she had seen his strong gruff loving face. He had been damn huge, ending up dying of heart complications when she was eighteen. It seemed like yesterdays had been frozen in the room. Nothing had been moved or touched.

A quiet sob escaped her and she cried. Just a little and enough to release the hurt inside of her just a little to get her through today. It would be the hardest today. Coming home, running from a ex with a battered body. It was humiliating and she was so grateful that her Dad wasn't here to see her like this. He wanted to her have a rich full life. He was the reason why she married Jason in the first place. Jason…the name coiled a cringe inside of her and she shuddered.

Emily was a beautiful girl, all though she would never have admitted it. There was much more to beauty than big tits and a nice ass…that's what Gemma Morrow had told her growing up. Emily was blessed with adequate rack and a shapely ass. Her skin was sun-kissed dark which contrasted with her honey colored hair. Her Mama had been Mexican but she took some of her Dad's Irish heritage in her. Her sun-kissed face held brown eyes.

Brown eyes that held a whole lot of pain.

She got up and forced herself to move forward into the day. Showering, taking her pain meds, putting herself together. When she was with Jason she had done certain every day to keep up her appearance as his wife. The circles they had run in were…upscale. She had always blown her hair out straight. But she hated it. Felt stiff after wards and no matter what it ended up curling at the end of the day.

Soft curls and waves sprung around her head and she let it go with relief. No more pressure like that anymore. It was a small comfort in light of the heaviness of everything that lay on her slender shoulders. She was a strong woman. She told herself that as she looked in the mirror and applied light make up. She thought it as a mantra as she covered up her faded bruised eye.

Handprints echoed on Emily's neck, faded but present. No amount of make-up would cover them up. Emily sighed heavily and pulled on jeans that hugged her tight in all the right places. They were her favorite jeans, being worn and faded where she liked them faded but Jason…there were a lot of 'But Jason'…

Emily was never going to let that happen again.

The only thing she could bear on her top half was a loose tunic that hung off her shoulders. Her bruised shoulder showed so prominently that she yanked it off threw on a tank and a loose, light, and long cardigan that had begun to be her favorite as it covered her up pretty damn well. Grabbing her keys and her purse she hurried out of her Daddy's home and forced herself to get into the car.

She could do this.

She could definitely do this.

That's what she told herself as she drove through the achingly familiar streets of her hometown Charming. Half of her was almost painfully relieved to be home, to be where she could be. To just be and to go under and heal. But there was this part of her that was, no matter what, going to be uncomfortable. She'd be naked. It was like she was going home butt-naked like a newborn. With her scars and battered choices open and bleeding in front of everyone.

God, how she had missed everyone. SAMCRO was her father's legacy that he had built and it had never ever struck her down. Every childhood memory had a cut in the background and a comforting roar of a Harley in the distance. Even into adulthood her most pivotal moments…High School Graduation…her father's funeral…College graduation…her…wedding...they had all been lined with the same. Her roots, her foundation, was in SAMCRO. And yes, she was unbelievably broken in ways that she never dreamed of and her heart shuddered at the thought of going home in embarrassment and shame.

Logically, she knew that she was a victim. But she was supposed to be stronger and wiser than to be a battered wife. It wasn't supposed to be this way. She was supposed to come home with a rich happy life surrounding her. Not a broken heart, a battered body, and a soon-to-be ex husband trailing her with violent rage in his plans.

Damn.

This fucking sucked.

As she pulled into the lot of the Teller-Morrow Shop the worry and tension left her as she saw the row of motorcycles and cuts milling about. She smiled, her heart feeling a little fuller than it usually was. Parking Emily stepped out of her car and slammed the door shut. Shading her eyes she looked out at the concrete lot and saw some of the people around looking at her. She saw Opie with his arms around a cute blonde and she saw his Daddy get off of his tricked out motorcycle. She longed to go over there but she had to take care of what came first.

What came first came walking out of the office at that moment.

"Welcome home." She said grabbing Emily up in a fierce welcoming maternal hug. Emily was enveloped in the comforting strong arms that she had missed for a very long time and held on tight for a long steady moment. Feeling stronger, just by looking at the woman who had been a mother to her, she stepped back and looked Gemma in the eyes.

"It's good to be back." She said, her voice slightly scratched with emotion.

Gemma studied her and noticed the covered bruises and the marks on her neck. She lifted up the edge of the sweater that Emily had worn and scowled.

"Don't worry baby girl." She said with surety and holding her tight again. "You're home, we got you now."

Emily nodded, setting her face from the shakiness that she felt from within her.

"They're inside." She informed Emily putting a supportive arm around her waist.

"Did you know?" Emily asked suddenly before they went inside. "When I call, did you know?"

"A mother always knows, baby." Gemma replied rubbing her shoulders with compassion in her eyes. "We'll make that bastard pay. I promise."

They went inside of the office where Clay and Jax were waiting. They had watched through the window at the two women's reunion both noticing the bruises on her neck with anger. But they both hid it so they wouldn't scare her. But looks were exchanged and they knew that this bastard would pay for laying hands on her. It was a rule. No man laid hands on a woman that was connected to the Club. Certainly not the orphaned daughter of a founding member. That was the rule. But was deeper than the rule was the genuine affection and love SAMCRO had for her. She had grown up in SAMCRO just like Jax and Opie. Her father had left the world and they both knew that he knew that SAMCRO would always be there for his one and only kid. There was nothing they wouldn't do for their family, and Emily was family.

She came in and Clay grinned seeing the pretty little girl that his deceased brother had adored. He looked at her and he could still see that pig tailed girl that trailed behind them hanging on her Daddy's hand and tugging their cuts for attention with a toothy smile. In that little girls place was a beautiful young woman with a smile so close to that toothy childish grin he remembered.

"Hey sweetheart." He grinned wider wrapping her up in a bear hug. "Welcome home."

"Thanks Clay." She said softly.

Jax lifted her up and it didn't go unnoticed how small she was in his arms. But despite her size she hugged him back with just about match strength.

They sat down and Gemma settled next to Emily with a supportive smile.

"You coming home. Long over due." Clay said with a grin but it faded away and a far more serious look painted itself onto his features. Jax and his mother shared a look that seemed to communicate Jax's worst fears that Emily had really been broken up into pieces.

"It's good to be home." Emily replied.

"What happened, Emily?" Jax asked gently.

Tears that she refused to let spill pricked her eyes and she gripped her hands in front of her. Willing herself to be strong enough to say it. She had fought so hard and now it was time to fight just a little more. After this she could…let it go…she wouldn't have to fight so hard. All she had to do was say what they already knew.

"Jason and I are getting a divorce. It's been bad for a while but about five months ago he started getting physical. I kicked him out. He said he'd go into therapy so I let him back in. A couple of months ago he hit me again so I moved out and filed. He started stalking me but his baby brother's a cop and his Daddy knows people. I couldn't even get a restraining order. A week and a half ago he found my apartment and attacked me. " Emily's words spun out quietly and surely into the air into the listening ears of Gemma, Clay, and Jax.

Jax tensed at the words and studied his friend closely. Circles he hadn't noticed before danced around her eyes and a sorrow that made his gut wretch together to see in her brown eyes. He remembered taking her out for ice cream when she got dumped by her first boyfriend…Jax also remembered him and Opie finding that ex-boyfriend and scaring him shitless until he apologized to her. He wondered why she left, why she never came back to Charming, all these years away from Charming. But it didn't matter. Everyone left once in a while and she had gone out and what was important was that she came back. She came back when she needed her family. That was what was important to Jax.

Emily took a strong breath and continued. "I came to after and he was gone. Evidence of the attack had been cleaned up. When I called the police they said it was my word against his and his brother said that he was with him getting beers."

"Jesus. Why didn't you call us? We would've had someone out there in a heartbeat, sweetheart." Clay asked.

"I thought I was handling it." Emily confessed. "The attack happened because I got the judge to give me half of the estate. Everything is split fifty-fifty."

Clay gave a low whistle. The last time they checked in on her, that bastard was pulling in a shitload of money and that made her a wealthy woman. At least they wouldn't have to worry about that.

"Does he know you've come home?" Jax asked.

She nodded. "He probably does. If not he'll find out soon. He always knew where I was."

"We'll protect you. Don't worry about that." Clay said. "I'll bring it up in Church but it'll pass. You're family."

Emily nodded with a grateful smile. They all knew that there had never been a question. But the statement relieved her just the same.

"It's good to be home." She repeated with feeling.

"Come on, the guys are gonna want to see ya." Jax said with a grin. "Did ya know that Opie's new wife is a porn star?"

Gemma and Clay watched as the two 'kids' walked into the yard and followed them from a slow distance shaking their heads at the banter that carried back to them.

It was good to be home.

xxxx

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