Since the MC, their families and close friends were technically still on lockdown, Gemma drove me to the clubhouse to stay with everyone else after I found out I could leave the hospital. A couple of the guys had offered to go to my house and pack a bag for me, but thankfully Gemma took her Momma Bear role seriously and appointed herself that task even before she came to pick me up from the hospital.

While we were all mingling in the clubhouse, I sat at the bar sipping on the beer Chucky had passed me and noticed Chibs and Jax talking quietly in one corner together. I wasn't able to make out any of their conversation until Jax suddenly stood up straight and cut Chibs off and said, "Gather everyone for chapel."

After that I couldn't hear anything else. I waited until Chibs moved to follow whatever orders his President had given him before I cautiously approached Jax. "Did…? Umm… Did you guys find out something about the creep that did this to me?"

Jax could tell that I was uneasy, so he gave me a warm smile and stroked my hair replying, "Yeah, actually we did."

I could feel tears of relief gathering in my eyes, so I sniffled them back and took in a deep, calming breath. "I know I can't… or shouldn't… But… But I'd really like to hear what you've found out."

By this time Chibs had everyone gathered together and was corralling them to their Chapel room. Although, instead of continuing further into the clubhouse, Chibs paused beside me and said, "I don't know about you, Pres, but I think I could use a wee bit of fresh air."

Much to my relief, Jax nodded then replied, "Service outside sounds like a good idea to me."

Chibs took my right hand into his and wrapped my arm around his left arm. After he hugged my arm against his side and kissed my cheek, he said, "Come now Lass, I would be honored to escort you to your seat."

As we walked towards the door, I noticed Tig and Jax stop to talk with Chucky, Unser and Gemma with very serious expressions. I later found out that they were making sure that no one came outside to overhear our discussion. In all honesty, I was beyond shocked that Jax had allowed me to join them. But then again… I now had two kills under my belt after being mistaken for a member of SAMCRO, so I kind of felt like I had earned the right to make such a bold request of the President.

Oh God, please don't make me regret this. Please?

Once we were all seated around a picnic table, Jax turned his attention to Chibs and bluntly asked, "Did the Lieutenant let you look at the body?"

"Aye. And unfortunately, my suspicions were right."

Everyone around the table seemed to understand what he meant by that, so I raised my and asking, "Would you mind elaborating on that thought for the uninitiated?"

Chibs chuckled then hugged me into his side. "Sorry, Mia-Luv. Of course, I'll be happy to explain. After thinking about everything you said about him claiming to be me kin, I started to have some suspicions about who he might be."

"And after IDing the body, your suspicions were confirmed?" I stupidly asked because I still felt like I was playing catch up.

"Aye. But he weren't me nephew. He was actually me half-wit cousin…"

"Not the one…?" Juice asked with a disgusted look on his face.

"Aye… One in the same."

"But I thought he left California and moved to like Vancouver or something," Tig commented as if the rest of the unspoken conversation made complete sense to him. (A quick survey of the faces around the table showed that Jax, Juice and Rat all felt the same way as Tig.)

Chibs frowned then answered, "I thought he would, but it looks like I was wrong. From what I can tell, after we rejected him, he found another crew to join. What he did to Mia was either an initiation rite or he pissed off the wrong person and they wanted us to do their dirty work by putting him out of his ever-loving misery."

"He sure did piss off the wrong person," Tig commented before he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side. He then placed a firm kiss on my head and squeezed my shoulders tightly. "So proud of you Mia-Baby for putting him down like the filthy trash that he is… uhh… was."

I tried to hug him back as I replied, "Thanks Tiggy." I then turned my attention to the President and Vice President (Jax and Chibs). "I kind of feel like you guys are speaking a different language because I'm pretty sure I missed half of that conversation even though I've been sitting right here the entire time."

They all laughed good naturedly and then Chibs turned on the bench to face me. He pet my injured cheek (he had been doing that a lot since I was stitched up) and he had this sad look in his eye that made me worry that he might actually cry.

"Mia…? Luv… I am so sorry."

When he stopped there, I waited a couple of breaths to let him continue. When he didn't, I pressed his hand that was still stroking my cheek against my flesh and asked, "Sorry? Why are you apologizing to me, Chibs?"

"It should have been me, Mia-Luv. I shoulda put him down years ago."

"Oh… Because he's your half-cousin?"

"Nay, Luv," he replied with a hearty chuckle that chased away all the previous sadness in his eyes. "He be me half-WIT cousin. He's been… was upset with me since we… the club rejected his application to join our charter. I… I never would have let him live if I knew he'd do something like this."

"Oh… But him being a total fucktard isn't your fault…" Everyone laughed loudly at that even though I really wasn't trying to be funny.

Tig pulled me into another hug so that he could kiss my head. He laughed even more loudly with his cheek pressed against my head as he commented, "And this is why we'd sponsor you to be a member over his dumb ass any day."

"Sponsor…? What…?"

Jax held his right hand up to ensure that everyone was going to remain silent so that he could explain, "When Chibs had his suspicions about your attacker's identity, he made a joke. Basically, he said that his cousin…" Chibs made a point to clear his throat loudly causing Jax to sputter out a laugh. "Sorry. He said his HALF-WIT cousin wasn't man enough to be patched into the club and that after seeing how you've defended yourself and protected the club… Well… And please, remember it was Chibs that said this Mia, not me… but after all of that, it proved that you have more balls than most and should be considered an honorary member of the club by now."

There was a resounding uproar of support of the President's comments after he finished speaking. As the guys pounded a fist or hand against the top of the picnic table, I took note of the one and only person who remained completely still and silent. When our eyes met, I knew his lack of response wasn't because he didn't agree. No, he knew how tough I could be. It was because he knew all too well how the one member who wasn't at the table right now felt about this subject.

My dad HATED that my identity had been outted and that it happened because I had to kill someone to keep from being hurt or worse. He never said it, but I knew Dad was secretly happy that I had hooked up with someone from the club. I know it sounds insane but dating someone from work was such a 'normal' girl thing to do, so he hadn't been excited about my relationship with Juice, but he sure had tolerated the hell out of it. Well, he did so long as we didn't flaunt it or rub his nose in it too much.

I kissed Tig's cheek then turned and hugged Chibs as tightly as I could. The doctor hadn't lied, I was starting to feel woozy since taking one of the stronger pain killers, so my hug wasn't as tight as it normally would be.

"This seriously is not your fault," I whispered into Chibs ear before I pecked a soft kiss on his lips. "Thank you for telling me the truth. I'll make sure that Dad doesn't do anything else about this… unless you and the club decides something more needs to be done."

I then tried to standup, but I tripped and nearly fell over the seat. Rat had run around the table to catch me along with Tig, Chibs and Jax, so I never had a chance to hit the ground. Once I was steady on my feet it was decided that Rat would help back into the clubhouse to pass me off to Gemma so that I could rest. (Or she could go full on Momma Bear on me. Not that I would argue with that.)

Just before I turned to leave, I tried to catch JC's eye because a thought had hit me hard while I was sitting at the table. JC was the only man who really knew and understood me. More importantly, he seemed to really know my dad in a way the other guys didn't. Dad would HATE to see me sitting with the guys at chapel and hearing first hand so many details about club business. He would HATE for anyone to see me as anything other than his daughter, even though he would be proud that I was able to defend myself so… effectively. My life was a paradox. I was supposed to be a delicate flower, but I wasn't allowed to let anyone step on me. People thought that my thistle tattoo only represented the maternal side of my heritage, but that was far from the truth for me. To me it was the perfect representation of the strength and beauty I knew my Father had always wanted me to believe I had within myself. A thistle was colorful and beautiful to look at, but if you didn't treat it with the proper care and respect, then it would bite you, hard and leave a lasting, painful impression.

No one seemed to understand that, but JC did. When he refused to meet my eyes, I felt my bottom lip start to tremble, so I bit down hard on it to still its motion.

"I'm sorry, Me… ahh… Ma'am… err… Miss…"

The way that Rat stumbled over a simple name to call me comfortably made me laugh softly. "Just call me Mia. And no, it isn't you…" My eyes flicked briefly towards JC who was still steadfastly not looking anywhere close my direction at all. "You haven't done anything to hurt me. But… Can I ask you something?"

He looked at me like I was going crazy before he answered, "Of course… you can ask me anything."