Author note:
I'm not sure this one turned out quite the way I wanted it to. I hope you enjoy it anyway. (see notes at end)
CH 96-Be Brave
Clay got Emma calmed down enough to start telling him about Troy. She started with him hitting on her at the club and went through their debate in class and the subsequent issues, like the vandalism to her car and now the dead squid on their doorstep. Every word made Clay more livid. He was already planning his revenge.
As Emma went through her explanations, Sonny, Trent, Brock, and Vic entered the bunkhouse. Usually Clay would shoo them off or ask them to quiet down if he was talking to Emma. However, this time he actually waved them over so they could hear exactly what was going on at home. He knew that he and Emma would need their support to get through the next few weeks until Bravo was back stateside, and until he could teach this bastard a lesson.
As Emma revealed more, Sonny knew Jason needed to be in the loop as well. He sent Vic to go get the boss-man so that they could all formulate a plan together.
Vic found Jason and Ray grabbing some coffee in the Mess hall.
"Boss! Boss!"
"Yea, Lopez? What's got you all wound up?"
"Uh, Sonny sent me to get you. We need you in the bunkhouse ASAP."
"Why? Whatever issue Sonny's having can wait. I need some time to put up my feet and enjoy my coffee."
"Boss, it's Emma. Clay was talking to her and there's a problem."
Both Jason and Ray were on their feet immediately.
"What kind of problem," Jason demanded.
"Not sure of all the particulars. It sounded like she has a…a stalker or something."
"Shit!"
Jason dropped his cup, and all three men took off, leaving a puddle of coffee spreading across the floor. Jason burst through the door, followed by Ray and Lopez. He moved up toward where Clay was still talking with Emma. Clay looked over his shoulder and motioned for Jason to sit down and talk to his daughter. As soon as Emma saw her dad, she burst into tears all over again.
"Hey Em, what's wrong honey?"
Her next words stabbed every man standing there right in the heart.
"I'm scared Daddy."
Her voice remined him of when she was a little girl and would come into his and Alana's room in the middle of the night after a bad dream, begging him to chase the monsters away. Only this time he couldn't just look in the closet and tell her everything would be fine.
"I know baby. I'm sorry. Can you tell me what's going on?"
Emma started back through her explanation of all the events involving Troy. While Jason was listening and trying to reassure her, Clay and the rest of the team were discussing options for keeping Emma safe, both at home and in class, until they could return. They threw out several ideas, not the least of which was having Metal just schwack the dude. Once they all calmed down, they came up with a realistic strategy to ensure her safety. As soon as Jason had Emma calmed back down again, Clay tapped him on the shoulder and entered the conversation.
"Em, honey. We've been talking and I think it's best for you to leave our place and go on over to Ray and Naima's."
"No, I can't do that. He's following me. What if he tries to hurt one of the kids?"
Ray jumped in to reassure her.
"Emma, it's fine. You are going to get packed up and take Koda on over to my place tomorrow morning. I know Naima will agree with me. I'm gonna get on the phone with her as soon as we're done here."
"But…"
"We're going to have Derek and Metal take turns doing drive-bys to make sure everyone is okay. You know they won't let anything happen to you, Naima, or the kids."
"Okay…alright. I guess that's okay. Thanks Ray," she responded, calming down.
"Don't mention it sweetie."
"That will work for when I'm at home, but what about…Oh my God! How will I go to class with him?"
They could see her starting to melt down all over again. This time it was Brock that chimed in.
"Em, it's gonna be okay. You're going to take Koda with you to class, every class. Not just the one with this…this guy."
"How can I do that?"
"Listen, I have a friend that trains support dogs. He's going to overnight you some patches for Koda's harness that indicates he is a service dog. Then it's the law that they have to let you have him with you."
"But…but, what will I say…"
Clay cut in.
"You're going to say you've been diagnosed with Diabetes, if anyone asks."
"Isn't that illegal? What if I get caught?"
"First, they can't ask for proof. Your health records are private. Second, I don't give a God Damn what we have to do to keep you safe."
Brock laid a hand on Clay's shoulder, hoping to calm him down a little.
"Clay's right Em, they can't really question you. Koda will protect you. You know since he's a Mal, I trained him almost exactly like Cerb. All you have to do is give him the command, and I promise, no one will touch you or even come near you."
"Okay…okay," she said as she reached down to pat Koda's head.
She was warming up to the idea and having Koda with her would definitely help her to feel safer.
"Can we go over his commands? I want to make sure I know exactly what to tell him."
"Sure thing, Em," Brock replied.
Clay vacated the chair so Brock could work with Emma and make sure she was pronouncing Koda's commands properly. When she had that down, Clay took up his position back in front of the screen with Jason close behind.
"Honey, one last thing. As soon as you get over to Ray and Naima's place tomorrow, you need to call the police and report this."
"But what will I say? I already reported the vandalism to the car. I didn't say anything about Troy then and I don't have any proof."
"I know babe, but it's important to get this on record, okay?"
"Ok…I'll call them."
"Em, you need to take pictures of that… that thing on the doorstep and then get it into a plastic bag or something without touching it. Can you do that?"
"I think so."
"Ok, are you gonna be okay for tonight?"
"Yea, I'll be okay. I have Koda."
She reached over next to her and buried her fingers in the dog's fur.
"Honey, I wish…"
Clay looked around at the guys who were still hovering near the laptop. They got his unspoken request and backed off to give the couple a moment of privacy. Clay continued.
"Baby, I wish I could be there right now. But this is going to be fine. It's just a couple more weeks until we're home and then…then we can deal with this together."
He could see Emma nodding as silent tears traced down her cheeks. His fists were clenched. God, he wanted to be there for her and wipe her tears away.
"Until then, I need to you be brave, okay? Stay safe and be careful, but you can do this Em. You're strong and you can do this. I know it Baby."
Emma sniffed, wiped her face, and nodded her head. She could do this for him. He needed to be able to focus so he could come home to her in one piece. She would show him that she could be brave too.
"I will Clay. I love you honey, be safe."
"I love you too, Emmie," his voice broke and he coughed to cover it. "I love you so much. Be careful babe. Text me when you're at Naima's."
"Okay, love you!"
"Love you Baby."
Emma ended the call, and the screen went black. Clay got up and was pacing around the small structure like a caged animal. Finally, he exploded.
"Fuck! Fuck this!"
He grabbed his bag from under his bunk and started stuffing things inside. Sonny noticed what he was doing and came over to question him.
"Ahhh, whatcha doin' there Bam-Bam?"
"I'm getting out of here! I gotta get home to Em."
"Say what now?"
"I need to be with her. I can't just…just be here when she's in danger!"
"How're you gonna manage that?"
"I…I don't know. I'll ask Blackburn for special circumstances, plead with Harrington if I have to. If that doesn't work, I'll find my own way back."
None of them had seen Clay this volatile and reckless since he started dating Emma. He zipped up his duffle and started for the door until Jason reached out at hand to stop him.
"Let me go Jace," Clay growled.
"Stand down immediately Spenser!"
"I can't! Em needs me!"
"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I want to jump on the first bird out of here and go hunt this bastard down?"
Clay stood motionless; his jaw clenched.
"What would that get me? Thrown in the brig and a Captain's Mast! How would that help Emma?"
Clay raked a hand through his hair restlessly.
"I'd be home and she'd be safe. I don't give a shit about the rest."
"No? I thought you wanted a future with her, wanted to marry her?"
"I do."
"What kind of future would you have? Not to mention that Emma would blame herself. Do you want that?"
"No…but, but…I can't…"
Ray's calm, steady voice broke in.
"Clay, Emma's going to be fine. Derek and Metal will have an eye on her. They will keep her safe until you get home man."
"So, what do I do? Ignore it?"
"No brother, you keep your head screwed on straight so we can do our jobs and you can go home safe to take care of your girl."
Clay sat down hard on his bunk and dropped his head into his hands with a deep sigh.
"I'm sorry. I can't stand feeling so helpless."
When he looked around at his brothers, they could see his tortured expression and the anguish in his eyes.
Ray laid a hand on his shoulder in solidarity, and Sonny responded.
"Listen here Boy Wonder. You trust your Alpha brothers to look after Sunshine 'til we get back. And trust us to get you home to her."
Clay nodded quietly and hung his head again. Then he stood and answered Sonny.
"Ok, you tell them I want a Sit Rep everyday until I'm back. And Son…let them know that unless they have to, it's hands off on this son of a bitch." His tone was almost a snarl as he continued. "He's all mine, got it?"
"Copy that."
Emma spent a restless night after retrieving and photographing the dead squid on her doorstep. The next morning a knock on the door scared her so much that she almost dropped her cup of coffee. Koda didn't growl, so she wasn't sure what or who to expect on the other side. As he hand hesitated on the knob, she heard a voice call out.
"Uh, Emma, it's Derek, from Alpha team."
She hurried to unlock the bolt and open the door to him.
"Hi, sorry…I wasn't sure who it was."
"I get it. No problem at all. Quinn filled me in, and I thought it would be best if I went with you to get moved to the Perry's this morning. That okay?"
"Yea, yea. Thanks."
It was then that she realized he was still standing outside.
"Sorry, come on in," she said as she stepped back and opened the door.
Koda eyed the man warily as he walked into the living room. Emma laid a hand on him and let him know that Derek was a friend. Once that was out of the way, she got him a mug of coffee and he sat down on the couch to wait while she gathered up her things. It didn't take her long and they were on their way to Naima.
Derek followed her over to the Perry's and helped her carry her things to the door. Naima welcomed her in with a bear hug, assuring her that it was no trouble and they wanted her there. After he dropped Emma's bags inside Derek told them he would be back to check in later and to call if they needed anything.
Naima helped Emma take her things back to the guest bedroom. The younger woman looked around for RJ and Jameelah but didn't see them anywhere.
"Where are the kids?"
"At my mom's. I thought we could use some grown up time. And I'm not sure I want them hearing about all this when the police come over."
Emma nodded in understanding.
"I'm sorry. Maybe this is a bad idea."
Naima grabbed her in a fierce hug.
"Nonsense! This is what family is for sweetie."
Emma let herself be held and comforted. It felt so good to have someone to lean on. She rested in Naima's arms for just a minute before squaring her shoulders and reaching for her phone.
After a few quiet days and nights with Naima and the kids, Emma started to feel like herself again. Metal and Derek kept up their end of the bargain and did regular check-ins with all of them and related to Clay and Bravo that all was well. That was until Wednesday and she knew that she would need to go to class and face Troy. Thankfully, Brock's friend sent the patches for Koda to the Perry's. As she was getting ready to go to class, she affixed them to his harness. She knew the reason for it and was definitely reassured by the prospect of having Koda with her. Still she felt deceitful and didn't like the pretense. But she'd promised Clay, so she left them.
When they got to campus, she got a few looks for having Koda with her, but no one said anything. They walked into class and she took her usual seat. The professor did stop over, and she introduced Koda as her support dog. He saw the patches and left the conversation there. Koda laid down at her feet and was perfectly behaved. Emma heard Troy's grating voice before he came through the door. She started to shake and Koda nudged his nose against her leg. She reached down to scratch his ears and could feel a low rumble coming from his throat. As Troy walked in, he looked right at her and sent her a leer that made her skin crawl. She straightened her spine and looked right back, not lowering her gaze. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing how scared she really was. Pulling up Clay's picture on her phone she took a deep breath. She could do this. She would do this. She would make Clay proud of her, she would be brave.
*I know I'm skirting some legal/ethical issues with Koda as a service dog, but I needed a way to allow him to be with Emma. Also got the Diabetes idea since Kerri Meddars that portrays Emma is a Type 1 Diabetic in real life. I hope I don't offend anyone.*
