Happy Canadian Thanksgiving ️ I'm so thankful for you all😩

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General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.

CHAPTER 53: COME JOIN THE MURDER

"The feds are in there questioning her." Tig paced up and down the ramp outside of the hospital. "I don't like this, Clay."

"We expected this." In less than a day, Clay's plan would be put into motion; everything would be out on the table and everybody would be protected, he just needed Tig to stay calm until then. "She knows what to say. We'll get it all sorted out tomorrow, brother. I promise."

"Yeah… Okay." Tig forced himself to calm down at the request of his President. "How's SAMDINO?"

"Eh…" Clay looked across the lot at the picnic table surrounded by antsy Southern Cali Sons. "Aint happy but… Aint surprised either. Guess they're used to it."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Tig chortled. At least that meant one less phony explanation that he needed to come up with.

"How's she doin?" Clay's tone softened.

"Better today." Tig nodded as he squinted in the sun. "I'm worried though. She's… fragile." He tried to find the right word to describe her shaky state. "I don't know how she's gonna feel showin up in a wheelchair with everybody there."

"Whatever she wants, whatever will help - we make it happen." The older man assured him.

Sydney sat on the edge of her hospital bed clothed in a pink velour sweatsuit, staring distantly out the window beyond the small buildings and tall trees as people buzzed around her, clearing out her room. Her final day had whirled past her, leaving her with nothing but dread as Chibs and Half-Sack loaded her belongings into the van while Gemma got her medication from the doctor, and Tig oversaw everything with a watchful eye.

"Where d'you want these when we get to your house?" Half-Sack asked as he hauled the last armful of flower vases out of the room.

Sydney's hollow eyes stared far past him when he entered her field of view, not even doing as little as blinking when he spoke directly to her. He looked nervously to Tig who was standing in the doorway, looking just as concerned.

"Uh." The dark haired man stared at the back of Sydney's head as she stayed silent. "Kitchen's fine." He answered for her, rounding the bed and sitting beside her where he nudged her arm gently. "You okay?" He whispered even though they were the only ones left in the room.

"Yeah." She blinked a few times, shaking her head as she came back to earth at the sound of his voice. "Yeah, just tired." Even after days of resentment and discomfort, she would've given anything to stay another night in that damn room.

"You nervous?"

"Tiggy." She sighed, looking up at him with desperate eyes, silently pleading with him not to press the issue.

"Nah, were not doin this." He shook his head, swiftly reaching over and maneuvering her into his lap expertly. "Tell me, so that I can make it easier for you." He spoke against her neck as he hugged her tight.

"Yes, I'm nervous." She admitted begrudgingly through the small smile that he'd conjured up.

"Why?" He asked gently, but firmly.

"You know why." She rolled her eyes.

He looked up from where she was straddling him with a brow raised, not satisfied with that answer as he shook his head, taking her face in his hands. "Tell me." He looked into her eyes with a depth that made her uncomfortable as she jerked away lightly. "Tell me." He repeated softer, guiding her towards his lips where he kissed her cheek, then the other cheek, then her nose, then each of her eyes until he could see a smile forming on her hardened face.

"I don't want them to look at me differently." She spoke sadly as she avoided his eyes, looking down at her hands which were fiddling with the black shirt that he wore under his kutte. "Everyone's gonna be watching me… Knowing I'm hurt… Looking for weakness… The same thing's gonna happen as before."

"Would it help if you walked?" He figured a limp was much less crippling than a wheelchair.

"I can't walk." She scoffed.

"You were walkin around yesterday." He frowned.

"Not well." She reminded him.

"What if I throw ya over my shoulder? You were okay with that happening before." He grinned, poking her in the ribs as he tried to lighten the mood.

"You might be onto something…" She chortled.

"Hey." He lifted her head so that he could look into her eyes. "You took a bullet for the club, for the President. Okay? Nobody is expecting you to walk in there like you didn't."

"That's the problem…"

"We all get hurt… My leg, my ass." He reminded her with a smile. "Nobody thinks anything of it. You being a woman doesn't make that any different unless you think that it does. It's all in your head. You're one of us, okay?"

"Okay." She agreed softly. She wasn't anywhere near convinced, but she appreciated his efforts and surprisingly she'd found some hope to cling to in his pep talk.

"It's not coming." Sydney rolled her eyes as she begrudgingly allowed Gemma to wheel her out to the van where Tig was waiting to take her home.

"Oh yes it is." Gemma nodded as she pressed the button to activate the automatic doors of the ICU. "You need it."

"I don't need it."

"Sydney." Gemma stopped, rounding the wheelchair so that she could face her. "You have a bullet wound and muscle damage that will not heal if you aren't using this." She nudged the metal chair with the toe of her black lace-up heels. "The few minutes of walking everyday that you've been allowed by the doctor is not enough to get you where you need to go."

"Y-you talked to the doctor?" Sydney asked shakily, she should've known that she wouldn't have been able to keep something like this from the matriarch.

"Of course I did." Gemma scowled. "I take that as meaning that you didn't tell Tig?"

"I didn't want him to worry more than he had to..." Sydney looked down, wringing her hands guiltily.

"Well he's gonna be worrying when he's bringing you back here in a few weeks to amputate your leg!"

"I can walk around." She rolled her eyes at Gemma's dramatics. "I just have to be careful about how much for the first few days. As long as I take all my pills and lay low for the next couple of weeks, I'll heal up just fine." She initiated a staredown with the older woman who stood with her lips pursed, contemplating the situation.

"Fine. But just know that I am going to be watching you like a hawk."

"That's been made very clear." She nodded jokingly.

Tig pulled the van into Sydney's driveway after a quiet ride from the hospital. "Happy to be home?" He looked over at her hopefully, placing his hand on her knee.

She nodded, turning away from him as she opened the door and climbed down carefully where she began hobbling up the pathway, gasping in surprise when she felt herself being lifted off of the ground and thrown over Tig's shoulder.

Tig chuckled as he kicked the door open, carrying her through to the kitchen and setting her on the island. "I'm gonna spank that ass if you don't let me take care of it." He growled through gritted teeth with mock-anger before walking to the fridge.

"Don't tempt me with a good time." She smirked, spinning around to face him as she carefully crossed her legs.

"Feel okay?" He nodded to her leg as he slid her a beer and pulled out a joint.

She nodded, gratefully accepting the Corona which she tipped back, downing half of its contents in one gulp, sighing in satisfaction as she set the glass bottle down to the marble countertop.

Tig watched her with a bashful smile, circling his arm around her waist and pulling her towards him where he placed the joint between her lips and lit the end, letting her take a drag before replacing it with a cigarette and lighting that as well.

"Damn." She exhaled, coughing lightly. "What would I do without you looking out for my health." She chuckled, expelling the leftover smoke in her lungs.

"Post-hospital remedy." He winked, placing his hands on her hips as he stood between her legs.

"I'm gonna need it." She scoffed, bringing the cigarette to her lips.

"It'll be okay, baby." He assured her.

"Um." Sydney looked down as she twirled his ring around her thumb, feeling the guilt flooding her when once again; he was doing everything in his power to make things easier for her, and she couldn't even be honest with him. But she knew that this was the only way she would be able to get through today. "There is something you could do… That would help."

"What is it?" He asked eagerly.

"Let me be alone for a bit…" She peeked up through her eyelashes, seeing the concern wash over his face. "I just need to know that I'm okay on my own." She explained before he could protest.

"Sydney..." He shook his head with a sigh.

"Just before church…" She pleaded. "I just need a couple hours while I get ready. It'll help me feel more normal..."

He stared at her for a few seconds before reluctantly agreeing. "Okay. But the prospect will be outside."

"That's okay." She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you." She pressed her lips against his jaw.

Tig exhaled through his nose and rolled his eyes when he felt his body melting under her touch, as he always had. He wasn't sure if there was anything that he wouldn't do for her - no matter how badly he may not want to.

Half-Sack sat outside of Sydney's house in the van - as per Tig's instructions - furiously gaming away on his Nintendo when he was startled by the piercing ring of his burner.

"Hello?" He scrambled to answer once he saw that it was Sydney calling, jumping out of the vehicle and running up to the door. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She chuckled.

"Oh." He stopped dead in his tracks, looking over his shoulder and trying to awkwardly play off his panic as he made his way back to the van.

"Tig's coming to get me for church, you can head back."

"Okay." He nodded, snapping his phone shut and getting back into the driver's seat as fast as possible after the embarrassing display that he hoped nobody had seen.

Happy pulled onto the compound, meandering through the maze of bikes and vehicles which he recognized as a combination of SAMCRO, SAMDINO, SAMTAC, and many others. His frustration with the situation had only built after the altercation with Sydney yesterday, he hoped that after this meeting he would finally be able to work some of it out and avenge her the way that she deserved.

"Hey, Hap." Clay greeted with a sympathetic smile, waltzing out from the office where Gemma was gathering the croweaters in preparation for church.

"All those Mayans are dead! Like, a lot!" He was too fired up to respond with anything else.

"I hear ya." Clay nodded. "Why don't you come inside, sit down, and listen to what I got to say, ah? I think I got somethin you'll be more than satisfied with." Happy nodded his strong chin, following the Redwood President into the clubhouse which was now filled with only members - all filing into the chapel.

"Hap." Packer nodded once his eyes landed on the familiarly stoic face, greeting the taller man with a hug. "How's our girl?"

"Okay." He nodded, feeling guilty all over again as he quickly shuffled away before he could be questioned by any of his other San Bernardino brothers.

Clay looked to Tig for an explanation from where he sat at the head of the table in the fully packed room as they waited on Sydney. "Sack's bringin her." Tig explained with disdain for the clumsy prospect.

"Yeah?" Clay raised a brow as he looked out the door at Half-Sack who was hauling beer cases behind the bar.

"What the?" Tig's face contorted when he looked out the doors to see Half-Sack, but no Sydney. "Sack!" The poor kid ran into the chapel, terrified. "Where the hell is Sydney?"

"She uh." He looked around the full room of intimidating men nervously. "She told me you were bringin her."

"What?" Tig shook his head as some of the SAMDINO guys began chuckling at the ordeal that they were all too familiar with.

"Yeah man, look she called me-" He began digging in his pockets for his phone.

Sydney strutted through the doors of the clubhouse as she had every day for the last two months. Her heels against the bar floor echoed in the empty room as she trembled nervously beneath her leather jacket. The choice of tight black jeans and stilettos as she forced her body not to succumb to the limp had her fighting a mind-numbing pain, but she told herself that it was only for a few minutes, and that it would be worth it. It was just like Tig had said, nobody expected her to walk in there like she hadn't been shot. Which was why she was determined to do just that.

Tig closed his eyes, exhaling hard through his nose once the unmistakable sound hit his ears. He shook his head, finally opening his eyes and looking up to see her standing in the doorway.

"Sorry. Traffic." She shrugged with a smirk as she brushed her hair over her shoulder, basking in the whoops and hollers that arose from the room filled with men who raced to greet her, thank her, and congratulate her. This was the kind of attention that she wanted; the kind where nobody was fussing over her injury or checking to see if she was okay.

The excitement eventually died down and Sydney was finally able to take her seat - which thankfully Chibs had left her next to Tig. She sat down, looking around the room before she came face to face with Happy. She felt the anger returning as he sat there, stone-faced and staring her down - which she refused to cower under until she felt Tig's hand on her knee, turning her attention back to the man who deserved it.

Clay stared at the gavel as everybody settled and reminded themselves of the deep situation that they were in, preparing his speech that would likely determine the fate of their entire organization. "I know that things have been a little hazy…" He began, taking a deep breath and leaning over the table.

Even though Tig wanted to keep up his charade of mock-frustration over Sydney's recklessness, he knew that even though she masked it well - she had to be in a world of pain. He discreetly offered her his hand under the table, which she took gratefully, squeezing hard as she kept her expression blank.

"Some of you know what's going on, some of you only know what you've been told. I wanna clear all that up." Clay gratefully accepted the nods that came from Jury, Rollie, and Packer. "Couple of months ago… Mayans torched our warehouse - some treaty forged with the Nords behind bars. We found that out when we retaliated - blew their warehouse up in return. Nords laid low after that, Mayans laid lower - only pulling their dicks out when we crossed over into NV." He nodded to the Indian Hills President. "Where shit got confusing was when they showed up in Vegas a few weeks later, standing off with you guys for what seemed like no reason. What you don't know, is that there was a reason."

Sydney's brows creased, looking to Tig who looked just as confused as she did, just as confused as Jax did, just as confused as everyone did. As far as SAMCRO knew, the culprit behind the Mayan intimidation was still unknown.

"We blew up one of their pack shacks right before we drove the guns up to Indian Hills. Now the reason we didn't understand why they were coming after you." Clay looked between the two Nevada Presidents. "Was because we left no witnesses, and as far as we knew - nobody else knew about the guns… That turned out to be false." The table was filled with scowls and furrowed brows now.

Jax chewed his lip as Jury crossed his arms, looking at the slimy SAMCRO President with suspicion with multiple other members snuffed out their cigarettes or squinted their eyes in anticipation.

"There was another threat at large: Josh Kohn - an A.T.F. agent who had something personal against the club." He looked directly at Jax. "It was only recently brought to my attention that the threat had been bigger than we thought. He stuck around town for a bit, pissing on our shoes until he decided to up the ante - reaching out to other parties, offering them intel on ways to take us down."

Sydney and Jax shared a glance as the light bulbs went off in their heads. This had been the missing piece of their puzzle all along: Kohn, it all made sense. Only Jax wasn't relieved, he was worried. He felt every organ in his body shift a few inches lower. Clay had known about Kohn the whole time, had known about Tara the whole time, had known about him keeping this from the club the whole time.

"That threat's been eliminated, but it's what prompted the hit that was supposed to result in my head on a spike - which would've been successful if it weren't for you." Clay nodded thankfully to Sydney, initiating a round of respectful nods and bangs on the table. "Now the reason I've asked you all here… Is because what happened the other night can never happen again." Many of the men nodded, blinked, or grunted their agreement. "Not just somebody tryna off me, but bodies dropping in Charming because of us." He knew that they were in hot water with A.T.F. - Kohn or no Kohn, he couldn't have any more close calls. "Somewhere along the way, the Mayan/Nord deal went bad. Alvarez went after me and Darby - different target, same war. Now if we fire back… We can't stop the blowback from hitting home." Jax nodded along, regardless of Clay's knowledge of Kohn - he fully supported his President choosing the path of least resistance for once.

"Which is why I sat down with Alvarez, and Darby." Clay sighed.

A medley of gasps and questions followed the white-haired man's shocking admittance. "What, just the two of ya?" Tig scowled deeply.

"Where?" Jax questioned.

"Unser's cage. We uh… Discussed our outstanding issues, compared notes, and came to a conclusion."

"What kinda conclusion?" Bobby questioned as he chewed on a peanut shell.

"All Darby wants is to keep cooking his crank north of Charming. Alvarez… Well, he gave me the information, the truth... The truth that we needed to finally understand what was going on, and how to stop it. We have the same common goal: money. So, we sell them guns, they settle all their beefs with all of us." He gestured around the room. "Any territory hassles, any business disputes - it all lands in our favor."

"You made that call without a vote?" Piney drawled.

"I set it up." Clay defended himself against the bitter old man. "We vote on it now." He sat back. "If this thing passes, you all sit down with the Mayans in your own territories and you work shit out - take the win."

"What about Laroy and the Niners?" Juice questioned. "We've had a deal with them for years… That we don't sell guns to the Mexicans."

"Juice, Laroy aint got no loyalty to us." Jax shook his head. "He's been buyin from other dealers, pressing us for discounts - there aint no reason at all that we can't branch out."

Sydney blinked in surprise when Jax so valiantly argued to go against Laroy and risk tripping something with the other Oakland gang. A proud smile came to her face, maybe he was ready to accept his role as Vice President - or maybe he was just kissing Clay's ass.

"The peace we make with the Mayans could start somethin a lot worse with the Niners." Bobby pointed out.

"We'll deal with that fire when it catches." Clay nodded.

"These assholes tried to kill you, man. Almost succeeded in killing her." He nodded to Sydney, scrunching his face in disgust. "We're just supposed to pretend that didn't happen?"

"Yeah." Happy agreed with a piercing black stare, hearing a few other members around him chiming in with the same argument.

"Nah. That debt gets settled." Clay assured Sydney's largest protectors. "But not by us." Tig and Jax's brows both creased. "It's gotta be some outside charter." Clay looked to Happy with his brows raised expectantly. "You up for it Hap?"

Happy felt a sinister grin coming to his face. Clay was right, this solution was satisfying. He nodded firmly with his jaw clenched as he began running through all of the things he was going to do to those filthy Mayans.

"I'll do thi-"

"No." Sydney interrupted him, speaking for the first time since the lengthy meeting had begun. "I do it." She shook her head as she looked at Clay. Tig could feel her grip constricting around his hand as she grew angrier, which rivalled the previous grip she'd had out of pain - and he'd thought that one had been tight.

The reaction earned Sydney more than just a few turned heads, but she didn't care. If this was the only recompense that she could get, she was going to make sure she enjoyed every last drop.

"Makes sense…" Clay shrugged. He was happy to let her have this if she wanted it - it would keep her square and technically, it still fell under Alvarez's guidelines.

"No." Happy argued.

"This is mine." She sneered, whipping her head in his direction.

"They already tried to kill you once." He shook his head. He needed to do something to help the situation that he'd so badly misjudged. He couldn't make amends if she was trying to take what he'd planned on doing to make it up to her. "I'll fix it - make sure it don't ever happen again."

"This isn't your revenge!" She slammed her hands down on the table as he inadvertently belittled her before everybody, staring him down with hardened eyes and a heaving chest. He had taken her revenge once before, and she wasn't going to let it happen again - even if she was bound to a wheelchair.

"Princess still got that temper!" Tank hollered, filling the room with his obnoxiously throaty laugh. Donut glared at the rowdy man who had a notorious reputation for being an instigator - never having been able to understand when to keep his mouth shut.

Sydney's anger turned to a rage that surpassed the point of an outburst. Her fiery gaze switched to the short haired man as she felt herself slowly rising out of her chair, pushing Tig's restraining hand away once he realized what she was doing, ignoring the looks of shock that her boldness was earning her.

"Get out." Her voice was low, level, and cold as ice as she stared him down, watching him squirm with uncertainty.

Tank waited for the punchline, or for her to let up after giving him a fright like she always did, but it never came. His forehead creased when he realized that she was being serious. "You sure that bullet went to your leg, and not your brain?" He scoffed. There was no way that the little SAMDINO princess was trying to kick him - a patched member - out of a meeting with the mother charter. Who the hell did she think she was, thinking she would be able to get away with something like this?

"You heard her." Clay's gravely voice traveled the table as his eyes stayed fixed on the gavel.

"What?" Tank exclaimed in bewilderment.

"Get out!" Clay yelled, looking up at the fuming San Bernardino Son.

Sydney had no idea what she'd actually expected to happen, but she was shocked when Clay backed the bold move that could've easily been seen as a blatant disregard for the rules of hierarchy. She felt a rush of power as she turned her body slowly as Tank made his way around the table, staring him down with a hardened expression as he exited the chapel.

She was surprised by the Redwood charter - they had uncovered the madness and gotten everything sorted out in her absence, wrapping tightly with a nice shiny bow for her return - which they seemed to have no problem in waiting for while they honoured her requests during her recovery to a T. Not only was it now clear that they trusted in her judgment, but they valued her opinion. Maybe Tig was right, maybe she was one of them.

Sydney slowly retook her seat, glancing around the room with warning for anybody else who felt like testing her. This was her territory now, and nobody disrespected her on her home turf.

Clay nodded to Happy once she was seated, who was sitting with his eyes wide, nodding back to the SAMCRO President before backing off, leaning back in his chair.

"You okay with all this?" Clay looked to Sydney for confirmation before he called the vote.

Sydney nodded curtly. She hadn't thought at all about retaliation while she'd been at the hospital because she'd known that something larger had to be at play. But now that everything was clear, she was satisfied that this was the smartest solution to keep all parties in the black.

"What do you want me to do with Laroy?" She had no problem with the decision to cross the sleazy gangster, but she was their broker after all.

"Cameron's gonna be gettin back to us about Hefner later tonight. We should have the guns soon enough, keep him happy until he aint happy anymore." Clay suggested with a shrug to which she nodded her agreement. "Alright." He exhaled, addressing the whole room again as his eyes wandered over the leather-covered bodies. "All in favor of the Mayan deal?" He proposed.

Tig turned the charms on the chain around his neck, between his fingers - focusing solely on the feeling of the smooth heart and jagged spiral to keep himself from spiralling. He didn't feel that the resolution was nearly restitution enough for this kind of act, and the fact that Sydney was on the receiving end of it only weighed his dissatisfaction that more, but if this was what she and Clay wanted, he would have to oblige. He raised his hand, following his President in sync with Jax, which was then followed by Happy, then Bobby, then Chibs, until every arm around the table was raised - every arm except Sydney's.

Clay looked to her with a nod, blinking his blessing as he waited for her arm to join the masses where it belonged, but she responded with a simple shake of her head. She would vote alongside her brothers one day, but when she did, it would be with a reaper on her back.

Song for this chapter:

Finish Line - SATV Music