Yep! Norm has MAJOR issues right now. Thank you all for your love and support! This universe grows day by day!

"YOU SICK FUCK! I'M GONNA KILL YOU! KEEP YOUR GODDAMN EYES OFF MY WIFE!"

Norm didn't hear much after that, Daryl's fist connecting solidly with his jaw. The next thing he knew he was on the ground, looking up in a daze as what looked like half the charter was struggling to hold back Daryl. He was pretty sure he had just lost a couple of seconds or more of consciousness.

Nobody else lost any time though, even if they wished they could. The moment Daryl hit Norm he had been pulled back by Merle and Barry, Viper, Ram and some others coming over from their cabin next door as soon as they heard the noise. They separated the men quickly, knowing what a subordinate attacking an officer in broad daylight meant. What had happened was a personal dispute, but that wouldn't matter to DEMONS from other charters who didn't know the men. All they would see was an enforcer attacking a SAA, which was a major breach of rank. Daryl would be beaten, possibly worse, and then lose his patch before they could be stopped.

Merle had seen Norm looking too, Barry coming in in enough time to see what was going on. Merle now had Daryl in a choke hold, telling his brother to hold his shit, what the consequences were.

"FUCK MY PATCH! FUCK ALL Y'ALL!"

Daryl obviously wasn't concerned with the politics of the matter. The women were all frozen in place, Amber looking on from the fire pit, Debra a few feet away on the porch steps, Beth just behind and Kaye in the front door. Barry leaned over Norm, offering him a hand up. He took that as a sign his president was on his side.

He thought wrong.

"What the hell is going on?" Barry asked, trying to give his friend the benefit of the doubt.

"TELL'EM!" Daryl raved. "TELL'EM HOW YA WAS PRACTIC'LLY BEATIN OFF WHILE YA LOOKED AT BABY GIRL! MOTHERFUCKER!"

"SHUT UP!" Norm raged back, the coke that swirled around his brain clouding his judgement. "Wouldn't NOBODY be lookin at her if you didn't let her walk around with her tits and ass hangin out like some whore..."

Norm's voice stopped the instant the word fell out of his mouth. He knew he had crossed a line with his whole family then. He had used the one word that was off limits regarding Amber, the name Le Mechant and the man who had raped and nearly killed her had called her. Daryl raged again, now roaring wordlessly as he struggled, nearly getting away because Merle had let him go. Merle himself was cracking his own knuckles, eyeing Norm like he wanted a go at what was left once his brother got done with him. But that didn't concern Norm anymore. They could release them both on him, let them beat him into the ground. He deserved it.

He watched Amber's face crumple from across the yard, then she took off running as best she could towards the back of the house where the entrance to her and Daryl's bedroom was. Beth was right behind her, Deb giving Barry a look before she followed. Norm knew that look, she was telling her husband to "handle this shit, NOW". Before Norm could look behind him for Kaye, Barry's thick fingers were around his throat, pinning him to the porch.

"You listen and listen GOOD you coked up fuck!" the man he considered his brother hissed in his face, low enough that the other's couldn't hear. "Yeah, that's right, I KNOW. You don't think I keep tabs on that shit, especially when my SAA acts like he's one snort away from the damn moon? The ONLY reason I don't gut you right now is your old lady is watching. With my seat, I could do it and the boys could spread your body from here to home and NOBODY would mourn you the way you are right now. So I suggest you get SOMEWHERE far away from me, my daughter, and her husband and come down some before you try to make this shit right. LAST. CHANCE. MOTHERFUCKER!"

He released Norm, pushing him towards his bike. He stumbled to it, not even looking at the scene that was left as he roared away, to ride around the block and give everyone time to disperse.

To everyone's surprise, Amber came out before he even topped the hill, now dressed in a modest pair of capris and one of Daryl's tees. The men had pulled Daryl down onto the ground but he still bucked and fought to get on his own bike and follow his SAA. She walked over and they parted, knowing she was the only one he would listen to. She fell to her knees next to his chest, opposite Merle who was trying his best to keep his brother from making a mistake.

"Baby, stop. Please!" she choked out, hands going to his chest. He thrashed for a second more but then seemed to recognize her, body stilling as he pushed up on one hand. He jerked out from Merle's grip to grasp Amber to his chest as she sobbed "I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen." over and over again.

His own eyes were dark now, but not from coke. This was hate, pure and simple. He held her tight to him, murmuring. "Ain't your fault, ya didn't do shit. He's fuckin crazy. An he's about ta pay."

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It was early evening now, mostly everyone who had witnessed the fight had decided to stay close to the cabin. Except of course for Kaye, who was now god knows where after she had Merle drop her off in town. Norm drove up on his bike finally, Daryl growling and going to rise when he walked to where he, Baby Girl, Merle, and Beth sat around the fire. Merle put a hand on Daryl's shoulder, shaking his head.

"Probably comin to say he's sorry bro. Won't try nothin in front of everybody."

"Fuck sayin sorry." Daryl spat but Amber put a hand on his leg.

"No. I want to hear what he has to say."

Norm walked up, eyes on the ground, standing carefully several feet away from the woman he had wronged. She noted his hands were shaking as he lit a smoke. "Baby Girl, can I..."

"Don't call her that. Not no more." Daryl snarled.

He nodded. "Amber, can I talk with you for a minute? Please."

She looked over at Daryl who shook his head. She whispered back. "I'll stay inside the light from the fire. He won't do anything. Baby PLEASE. He's SICK." She looked to Merle for help, knowing he would realize exactly what kind of sick she was talking about. He sighed, directing his speech to his brother but making sure it was loud enough for Norm to hear.

"I'm right here with ya bro. He even breathes on Lil' Sugar wrong and I'll hold him down while ya cut his throat."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at Norm. "Stay where I can see ya. And don't even try ta touch'er."

"Fair enough." he answered, waiting until Amber rose to walk to the outside edge of the firelight. They walked in silence for a minute, until on the opposite side of the fire from the Dixons, though those two pair of blue eyes never left them. Amber crossed her arms, looking at the ground as they walked.

"What are you doing?" she asked, the deeper implications of the question clear.

He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face as he flicked the ash of his cig away. "Dunno, girl. I'm all fucked up."

"Yeah, we noticed."

They walked a little more before he spoke again. "I'm sorry. You know I don't look at you like that."

"That's not what Daryl and Merle saw today. What are you on?" her question was plain and he looked away, not wanting her to see his eyes. He hadn't been expecting her to call him out.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. This isn't you. Norm, you RAISED me. Looking at me like that is almost like you looking at ELLA like that!"

Norm's face rocked back like he had been slapped. He returned to look at her, the black flashing in his eyes. Amber took a step toward him, drawing herself up to her full five feet as she glared back. This evil might be destroying the Black household, but she wouldn't let it near the Dixon one. He was the one that looked away first, shamefully dropping his head.

"What is it? Coke?" she asked again.

"What makes you think that?" he asked warily, sitting on a log just inside the firelight.

"Because I've seen you drunk, it's bad but not like this. Most of us in the club smoke weed at least every once it a while. It mellows you, plus going without doesn't give you the shakes. Coke is the next thing that you have easy access to."

Norm looked down at his hands, noting the tremors. "You're smart, girl."

"You are too. Smart enough to know you're about to lose everything."

"I'm fuckin TRYIN! But there is shit going on in the club..."

"Daryl told me the Irish..."

"Daryl DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING!" Norm's voice rose on the last words, causing Daryl to lean forward on the other side of the fire. Amber put her hand up in his direction, shaking her head.

"WHAT is going on?" she asked, keeping her tone low.

"I've reached my fuckin LIMIT. That's what. What am I supposed to do? Without the coke I can't do the shit I gotta do."

"WHAT? I know about the club, you and daddy kill people. Daryl has too. I GET that!"

Norm shook his head. "Look, this ain't what I came to talk about. I'm sorry okay? I swear, I won't ever do that shit again, look at you like that. I just started thinkin about how you looked like Kaye some and it happened. I'd never put my hands on you."

Amber nodded with a sad smile. "I know that."

"And what I said, that name. I'd do anything to take that back. I know you aren't like that. And I wasn't even thinking about all that shit before." he flicked his cigarette butt into the fire. "I was tryin to cover my own sorry ass."

"I forgive you. But I'm not really the one you need to apologize to."

He met her eyes, "Daryl ain't talkin to me right now."

Amber shook her head and rose, looking into the fire. "I wasn't talking about him, I was talking about Kaye. And the fact that you didn't realize it scares me." She turned to look him in the eye, "Go make peace with your wife, Norm. Before you lose it all."

Then she walked away, leaving him wondering when the little girl he had helped raise grew up.

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The rest of the week passed with much less turmoil. Barry and Deb stayed with Norm and Kaye, while the Dixons and their wives stayed to theirselves. Amber's parents hated to lose the time with the others but Barry saw it as his duty to keep Daryl and Norm separated. It was hard enough watching Norm with his wife. Kaye refused to wear her property patch, only touching Norm during the day when they were on the bike. At night the whole house heard them fucking but it almost sounded like a put on, like it was loud on purpose.

Daryl and Amber spent their week the exact opposite. He practically cocooned himself around her and she let him. Baby Girl knew he took a lot from her physical affection, including how it calmed his nerves. He went almost nowhere without her. When Daryl sat, he more often than not pulled her into his lap. Gone was the man from two years ago who eschewed affection. He saw Baby Girl as being threatened (whether the threat was real or imagined) and for Daryl that meant he had to keep her close.

At night he reveled in her body, loving her deep into the night. Daryl had once seen Norm as the type of man, the type of husband he wanted to be. Now he just saw him as the exact thing to avoid. The man had closed out his wife, his whole family. Daryl had just found Baby Girl and the others that loved him. He would never push all that away and lose it now.

Daryl told himself that anyway.

They pulled up to the house on the pond late on a Saturday night, a week after they left. Sugar was still at her Mamaw's so it was strangely quiet, Daryl locking the door behind them. He would go to the clubhouse in the truck the next day to get their bags. Right now what Baby Girl needed was rest. The last two days she had been dead on her feet, so much so that he had been afraid she would doze off on the ride home. Her body had apparently still not recovered fully from the stomach virus. He made his way into their bedroom, fully prepared to tell her to get her ass in bed. Instead he found her already there, flopped crossways on her stomach, boots still on. He slipped them off her feet and undressed her, Amber not even rousing when he turned her body the right way and slipped her under the covers. He undressed then himself and lay curled around her, relieved when he didn't find the fever that had burned her up over a month before. He had two weeks until club runs picked up again and had to make sure she was well by then. Ever since she had woken up from the coma so long ago he had worried in the back of his mind about her health. Mortal enemies could be fought with knives, bullets, and the bow. But remembering how she looked in that hospital bed, a breathing tube down her throat, hanging between life and death? That made him feel powerless.

This sick shit had to stop.