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Tommy came strolling into the meeting room at the back of the club at nine in the morning. The guys were waiting for him. "All of us managed to get here on time," mumbled Tony.

"I had to drop Liam off at school. Is that OK with you?" asked Tommy, sitting down.

"Sorry, Tom," apologized Tony.

"OK, boys. Some serious shit is developing. Vinny is planning to go after the families that want Zack Martin whacked," explained Tommy. All the faces went tense.

"Vinny wants to go after one of the most powerful crime rings in the country?" asked Jimmy.

"Not the entire ring. Just a few families want the boy whacked. Now we have a code of honor to uphold. Watching as little thirteen-year-old boy gets whacked does not fall into that code. We have to stop these guys and we're going to stop them and you all are going to help me," ordered Tommy.

"We're with you all the way, Tommy," assured Tony.

"A spokesman for the Caprenza's comes down in a few days. Hopefully we can work something out. If not, we'll use our FBI contacts to take down some of the Caprenza empire," explained Tommy.

"Scott Rivers is going to help us out?" asked Paulie.

"I'll ask him. He's going to be pissed it was us who shot up the school. But Scott is a reasonable man. He'll want to protect the kid," assured Tommy. Everyone nodded. "Then that's settled. Now for the business of what happens to Richie and Mikey's territories."

The guys looked at each other. "Tony, I want you to take Richie's turf. Just because it's some of our best moneymakers. You take his crew as well. Paulie, you take the east side of Mikey's. Sonny, I'm giving you the strip mall on Elkwood and Mikey's crew. It's a good way to get started. There's about six shops with the butcher shop being your home base. His guys are professional. They'll listen to you. Jimmy, you have the clubs on both turfs." Everyone was happy. Tommy was good at being reasonable and fair. "Everyone cool?" asked Tommy.

"No complaints," replied Sonny, leaning back in his chair.

"I have one question. What about Richie's game? That's the hottest poker game in Boston. Easily a couple hundred G's every night. Hell, maybe even a million. Who gets that?" asked Paulie.

Tommy leaned back in his chair. He thought about it for a few seconds. "I'll take it for now. Richie was given that game as a gift by Vinny. He may have other plans for it," explained Tommy. Tony had a disappointed look on his face. "You don't need another poker game," snapped Tommy.

"I thought I might trade some others games of mine for Richie's game," explained Tony.

"Talk to Vinny," replied Tommy. Tony nodded. "Now I assume you all know that Rocco gets out of jail tomorrow," said Tommy. The guys nodded. "Anyone willing to give him control of a few shops and businesses?" There was a short pause. The guys were going over their businesses in their heads.

"What the hell, give him my bakery on Vinewood. Those guys would listen to him," offered Paulie.

"Thank you. Anyone else?" asked Tommy.

"How about that sleazy club on Harwood? Rocco's good at running places like that," said Jimmy. Tommy nodded.

"Tony?" asked Tommy.

"Pizza parlor on Verner. I don't really need it," offered Tony.

"That's enough. Rocco has to earn back his old turf," stated Tommy.

"Good thinking," complimented Paulie.

"Hey, Tom, I was thinking. Maybe we should send some money to the family of that boy," said Jimmy.

"Out of sympathy or guilt?" asked Tommy.

"Both I guess. I feel just terrible about it," groaned Jimmy.

"Other families have been sending sympathy. Secretly of course," explained Tony.

Tommy rubbed his chin. "Let's talk to Scott Rivers before we do anything. Scott is a good ally to have in all this. He'll understand that our hand was forced. But don't fuck with him. Scott is still FBI. And he know how to take down a mob crew."

"Believe us, Tommy, we know," assured Tony.

"OK, guys. That's enough for today. Go do what needs to be done. I've got some calls to make," ordered Tommy. The crew parted and went to stake claims on their new turfs. Jimmy however stayed behind.

"You want to use my office?" asked Jimmy.

"Yeah, Jimmy. That'd be great," replied Tommy. He and Jimmy started walking towards the office.

"So how is Liam? I haven't seen him in awhile," questioned Jimmy.

"Liam's alright. Blissfully ignorant of who I am. I'm going to keep it that way for awhile," answered Tommy.

"That's a smart move. Eight's too young to have to deal with this shit," added Jimmy. Tommy nodded. Jimmy sighed as a crash came from a storeroom.

"Fucking college kids," complained Jimmy. He went off to deal with it. Tommy laughed and walked into the club office.

Scott was standing in the hallway of his apartment building, digging for his keys. He'd checked his pant's pockets already and now searched through his coat pockets. He just new they were there somewhere.

"Mr. Rivers." Scott looked down the hall to a girl wearing a cheer uniform. It was his daughter Emma's friend.

"What can I do for you, Emily?" Scott asked, stopping his search for keys.

"I just thought you should know that some girls were teasing Emma today. I don't know what they were teasing her about, but she took it pretty hard. I tried cheering her up for a while, but my mom needed me to pick up a pizza for supper so I had to go. I think you should talk to her."

Scott nodded his head. "Thanks. I'll do that." After Emily went to her own apartment, he continued searching for his keys and found them in an inner pocket of his coat. He'd never put his keys there before and wondered why he was compelled to do so. He didn't, however, waste time on the thought. His daughter needed his love and support and he planned to give it to her.

It didn't take long for Scott to hear the mournful sobs coming from his daughter's bedroom. He dropped his keys onto the key wrack and threw his coat on the sofa as he walked towards the crying. The door was open a crack so Scott looked in. The sight he saw nearly brought tears to his eyes, and he wasn't a man to cry. There was his twelve-year-old daughter, curled up in a ball on her bed. He knocked on the door before stepping into the room. Emma didn't even lift her head as Scott sat down on the bed next to her.

"Emily told me some girls were picking on you. Do want to talk about it?" Scott said.

"No," Emma replied, but she lifted her head. "But I think I need to."

Scott gently took Emma by the shoulder and pulled her close into a hug. "What happened?"

"Four girls in my cheer squad were teasing me because I have an outie belly button and big lips. One of them twisted my belly button after practice. It really hurt. I hate these stupid two-piece uniforms!" Emma yelled as she stood up. She walked over to her mirror and stared at her belly button. Why did she have to be an outie? Why couldn't she just be like all the other girls?

"Emma, having an outie is nothing to be ashamed of. Mom had one. A lot of people have them. Even celebrity's have outies. Just ignore those girls. The only reason they tease you is because they are insecure about themselves, and they think picking on people will make them feel better."

"Yeah. You're right. And my big lips? Angelina Jolie has huge lips and no one makes fun of her!" Scott's heart leaped for joy. His advice was actually working, and Emma was getting happier by the second.

Carey listened as Zack's main surgeon explained his condition. The damaged tissue was healing but fluid was still filling up his stomach. If that didn't stop soon, Zack would need to go back into surgery. Carey thanked the doctor as he left to deal with other patients. Carey slowly walked back into Zack's room, where Cody was watching over his brother with a caring eye. Carey put a hand on Cody's shoulder and sat down next to him.

"At least the wound is healing," mumbled Cody.

"Yeah. The doctor said Zack's worst enemy is infection and they think there's no longer a chance for that," explained Carey.

"That's good," replied Cody, softly. He took Zack's limp hand in his. A faint smile came to Cody's lips as Zack squeezed.

"That's right, Zack. I'm right here," said Cody. Zack's eyes fluttered open. Cody saw the drool starting to pool in the side of Zack's mouth and grabbed a tissue to clean it up.

"Are you awake?" Cody asked. Zack nodded his head ever so slightly, but Cody didn't miss it.

"Can I get you anthing?" Zack shook his head.

"Good. So I know you don't like reading but I went to the library today and picked up a few books. Maybe I could read to you so you don't get bored. Zack? You okay, man?" Zack's face was contorted in pain and a quiet whimpering was heard. Cody looked up and down at Zack but could find nothing wrong. Zack's whimpering became louder and Cody's search for whatever was wrong was even more frantic. That's when he saw his brother's hands were holding his stomache. He shoved the hands aside and lifted the sheets. Blood was soaking Zack's hospital gown, all the while, Zack's whimpering just got louder and louder. Cody lifted the gown up to see where the source of the bleeding was.

"Oh no! Zack! Oh my God, oh my God!" Cody screamed. He didn't know what to do so he put pressure on Zack's stomach, but the bleeding didn't stop and Zack's muffled scream was heard even through the tube and support that was in his mouth.

"Help! I need some help!" Cody yelled out the door of his brother's room. Carey was standing in the hall with a doctor a little ways away, and they both ran over.

"What's wrong?" The doctor asked. His voice was calm and Cody didn't like it. His brother's belly button was bleeding, there was nothing calm about the situation.

"His belly button, it's bleeding!" Cody yelled. He was in total hysterics. He hadn't even realized it when he suddenly felt his mother's arms wrap around his body.

Now, more doctors were streaming into the room. Cody was screaming at the doctors to help Zack, who was still whimpering like crazy until finally they pushed him and Carey out of the room and they closed the door. He protested, as Carey had to drag him away from the room. Finally, Carey just stopped Cody in the hallway.

"Come on, Cody. It's going to be okay. I'm sure Zack's going to be fine." Carey tried to comfort her son but it wasn't working as well as planned.

"I thought Zack was getting better! The doctors said the wound was healing and they didn't think he could get any infections!" Cody screamed. People's heads from the waiting room were seen coming around the corner.

"You need to calm down. Screaming in the hallway isn't going to help Zack," Carey said, placing a hand on Cody's head.

"What will help him, mom?" Cody looked up with teary eyes at his mother. Carey didn't know what to say to this. She had no idea herself. Instead she just pulled Cody into the biggest hug she could give.

After a minute or so Cody gently pushed Carey away. "Mom. We need to talk."

"Okay. About what?" Cody looked down the hallway. People were still craning their necks to try and figure out what all the yelling had been about. As soon as Cody stared at them, however, everyone pretended to go back to what they had been doing before. "I think we should talk about this somewhere else. Why don't we go into that room over there."

After being in the hospital a few days, Cody had gotten to know his way around and what rooms had people in them and which ones didn't. He dragged Carey into the room he had mentioned and shut the door.

"I can't believe there was a mob hit at school," said Cody.

"I can't believe it either. It's just so unreal," Carey replied.

"What do we do? I mean, shouldn't we have someone watching Zack? This can't be safe. The mob is out there somewhere and you can't tell me they aren't out there planning their next move to kill Zack. I've seen movies. The mob never forgets." Cody sat on the bed wringing his hands in his lap. Carey could see he was a nervous wreck. The last few days hadn't been good for him.

"Cody, don't worry. I'll call the cops in the morning and get someone to stand by Zack's room."

"Don't you think we should have someone looking after us?"

"I don't know, Cody. I don't know much of anything these days." Carey sat down on the bed and rubbed her face with the palms of her hands.

"You okay, mom?" Cody placed a hand on his mom's back and made small circles.

"Yeah. I'm just tired. I guess I do need to get some proper sleep. I just feel wrong leaving Zack."

"Now you know how I felt when you made me go home. I wish this never happened. Why did it have to be Zack? I mean, there's like 1,500 people in school. What are the chances that Zack would get shot?"

"I wish it didn't happen, too, but you're acting like you wish it was someone else that got shot," stated Carey.

"What if I do?"

Tommy tapped a pen on the desk as he waited for Scott Rivers to pick up. This was not going to be easy to convince Scott to do. Two of his guys had been killed. But there was one saving grace that would help Tommy out. A secret that no one at the FBI knew. A secret very few people in Tommy's family knew.

"Rivers," said Scott answering.

"Hey, little brother. It's Tommy." There was a short pause. Tommy could hear his fraternal twin let out a sigh.

"Tommy. Long time no talk to. How the hell are you?"

"Not so good. My crew made the news." Fuck that came out wrong, thought Tommy.

"I hope you're not talking about what I think you're talking about." Scott's voice was full of worry.

"Sorry about your guys."

"Tommy, for the love of God. You know what kind of a position this puts me in. I should have a task force go over to your place right now."

"Calm the fuck down. I have an offer for you. I can help you protect the Martin boy."

"How so?" Scott sounded doubtful.

"The families are talking about taking down the people who want him dead."

"Fuck. That'd mean war if it goes badly."

"I know. But there's no other choice. We can't let an innocent boy get killed."

"I understand. How can I help?" Tommy heard Scott sigh.

"Just get ready for some tips on where to take down some certain operations. Scott, I'm trusting you not to turn against me on this."

"I would never do that, Tommy. You know me. You've been supporting me since Emma was born. I owe you my life."

"We're family, Scott. That's what makes us strong. Give Emma my love. I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks, Tommy. This is a hell of a thing you're doing"

"Don't mention it. Later." Tommy hung up. That hadn't been as hard as he thought.

Jimmy walked into the office. "Vinny just called. The spokesman has arrived. We're meeting him at Carmella's at six," explained Jimmy.

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was going to be a few days."

"Vito Caprenza called a friend down here and had him send someone over."

"What friend?"

"Johnny DeVito."

"Johnny? We've been friends with him and his crew since we started here. Johnny's like my brother."

"That's why Johnny said yes. He's trying to help, Tommy."

"Whatever. Have Tony and Paulie meet us there. We need a full force on this one."

"Not Sonny?" "He's not ready for a big meeting like this." Jimmy nodded. He left Tommy in peace. Tommy leaned back in his chair and went over the whole scenario in his head. The involvement of the DeVito family complicated matters. They ran a good portion of Boston. If talks didn't work out, Tommy could find himself going to war with them if they allied with the corrupt families. It was starting to get a little ridiculous. A mob war was brewing over an injured thirteen-year-old boy. And Tommy kept asking himself the same question. Was it worth risking his life and the lives of his crew and family?