A little shorter than what I wanted it to be, but I just wanted to post this as soon as I could. It's been hard to find some time to write my thoughts down, but I promise I'll keep updating!

"Clocks" by Coldplay. No particular reason. This just so happened to be the last song I listed to when I finished writing this :p

I do not own Sons of Anarchy. Only my OC's.

Thank you for being patient and enjoy!

Emily didn't know what sleep was anymore. Seemed like she could never close her eyes for more than an hour or two every night.

Opie had convinced his sister not to tell Gemma until the next morning. Why keep her up late and worrying? When the Queen showed up to Teller-Morrow, Emily and Opie were waiting for her just outside the clubhouse. As Gemma's car rode into the lot, Emily could feel the knots in her stomach get tighter and tighter. When the Old Lady exited her car and walked toward them, Emily felt as if she was going to pass out.

"What are you two doing here so early?" Gemma looked over her shoulder to where Opie's bike was standing all alone. "The others aren't back yet?"

"Gemma..." Emily started when the ringing of a cell phone interrupted her. The older woman dug into her purse and pulled out her cellphone, her eyes going a bit wide before she flipped it open.

"Yeah." She had a stern look on her face, almost as if she knew there was some bad news before she had answered the phone. They stayed silent as she was on the phone, not saying one word. Emily shifted her weighed, crossing her arms over her chest as they waited. "I'm at the shop. I'll call Tara." She hung up and stared at the siblings. "That was Rosen."

"It was a set up." Opie spoke up as Gemma and Emily listened intently. "Zobelle knew we were coming after him. He led us to him and we fell for his trap."

"Shit!" Gemma exclaimed, her voice a bit shaky. "I need to call Tara and wait until Rosen gets here." She pointed at Emily. "Take care of the office." She then pointed at Opie. "And you take care of the cars." She disappeared into the clubhouse without another word.

"Come on." Opie nodded his head toward the garage, his face looking extremely tired.

"Is that it?" Emily walked after him. "Are we just going to sit back and pretend that the guys aren't in danger while they're locked up?" When Opie didn't answer her, she got even more flustered.

"Look what happened to Otto! What if something happens-"

"There aint no use thinking that way! They're in there and we're out here!" Opie tried not to yell at his sister. He knew she had good intentions, but she wasn't helping. "Just gotta wait it out." He shrugged off his cut and handed it over to her. More like shoved it toward her. He grabbed his Teller-Morrow work shirt and yanked it on before popping open the hood of a nearby car.

Seriously? Emily stomped into the office and threw her brother's cut onto the couch. She slumped down onto the chair, rubbing her face with her hands in annoyance. Opie was right. There was nothing they could do and it made her upset.

But what could she do? Even if she was able to help, she was sure Opie wouldn't let her get involved. This was Zobelle's doing. Who knows what else he was capable of.

"This is all fucked." She cursed under her breath, brushing her hair from out of her face. She stared at the Grim Reaper on the leather cut. It stared right back her, with that frightful grin. It had so much history, it scared her. All the bloodshed, deaths, and violence. She knew what staying in Charming meant; to deal with all this.

She tore her eyes off the reaper as a car appeared in the lot. Rosen stepped out of his car, fixed his tie, and walked toward the clubhouse. Tara should be getting here soon, too.

Emily resisted the urge to stand up and run after him. To demand some answers, but she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere.

I can't do this. She walked out of the office in a hast, heading toward her Impala. Her fingers fumbling over the keys that wouldn't get out of her pocket.

"Where are you going?" Opie called out to her, but she didn't bother responding to him. He would just have to look after the shop on his own for a while. Emily jumped into her car and sped out of the lot.

Where she was going? She didn't know. She didn't really care. Emily just couldn't stay at Teller Morrow, so she drove around Charming absentmindedly. She passed by a couple of familiar places, but she didn't linger. She hardly glanced around her surroundings. When she made her way toward the edge of town, she was debating whether or not to leave Charming for a little bit. Nothing like Opie's disappearance, just for an hour or two. That's when her stomach disagreed with her.

She finally decided to head to Main Street. After finding a parking spot right outside Hanna's diner, she slowly made her way into the small joint. It was fairly empty, like it usually was. Emily took a seat at one of the empty booths and let herself fall into the cushions.

"Would you like some coffee, Hun?" The waitress asked her. That's when Emily thought about her appearance. She must have looked awful if the waitress was suggesting that she needed some caffeine.

"Yes, please. And I'll have a short stack, too." She thought for a second as the waitress scribbled down her order. "Scrambled eggs on the side."

"Coming right up." She disappeared behind the counter.

Emily rubbed her eyes, suddenly tired. How fucked up was this? Jax, Juice, Happy and the others were in jail. Chibs was in the hospital with life threatening injuries. And Emily was having breakfast. She felt her head pounding and her heart racing. Maybe caffeine wasn't such a good idea right now.

"Last time I saw you was just outside this Diner." She dragged her eyes up to see Hale looking down at her.

"Well, the options in this town are very limited." She huffed.

"May I?" He gestured toward the seat across from her. She nodded her head in approval, allowing him to take a seat. "I saw your Impala outside."

"So you were looking for me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no..." He looked out toward the street, collecting his thoughts, before turning back to her. "Stahl is back in town."

"Stahl?" The name tasted sour. "You mean the Fed who set my brother up as a rat? What the hell is she doing back here?" Emily tried her best to keep her voice low, but this new information made her blood boil. This was the last thing the club needed to deal with. The last thing Opie needed to deal with.

Hale opened his mouth to answer her, but the waitress showed up with two mugs. "Coffee, Deputy Chief?" She offered and he replied with a small smile. She promised she would return with Emily's dish and she walked away once more.

"She's not here for Sam Crow." He reassured her. "Something bigger than them. But..."

Emily sighed, already knowing the answer. "But I'm not suppose to know. Then why tell me she's back?"

"Just want you and Opie to be careful."

"Thank you." She took a sip from her coffee. It was hot and it burned her mouth, but it oddly felt comforting. "It means alot." Hale stayed quiet after that.

The waitress returned with Emily's dish, which she dug into immediately. She wasn't very hungry, especially with this new information Hale had given her, but didn't want the food to go to waste. That, and she felt the need to eat her anxiety away.

Hale sat across from her in silence, drinking his coffee as he watched her eat. It was rather odd, but it felt good to just sit in silence. With so much going on, it was nice to just sit down and...relax? No. Emily wasn't relaxed. But it gave her time to clear her head.

And think about something else.

"Stahl being back in town..." Emily said suddenly, causing Hale to stop from lifting his mug up to his lips. "...would it have anything to do with Ethan Zobelle?" Nothing else had changed since the last time she was here, only the arrival of Zobelle. When Hale didn't speak up, that was all the confirmation she needed.

"Is she going to get rid of him? I mean, it's his fault the club is behind bars! He-"

"Ethan Zobelle didn't tell the club to come storming into a Christian Center with guns raised." He said bitterly. That was the cop side of him talking.

"He framed them. You know he did."

"There's nothing I can do about the club." This time, it was Emily who stayed quiet. "Emily..." He trailed off, as if to explain to her the reason behind his decision, but he let it go. "Everything is a lot more difficult. I'm sorry."

Emily scoffed, gently pushing away the almost empty plate. "Yeah, I know. Everything has been 'difficult' lately. And I'm as useless as ever."

"You can be there for your brother."

This time Emily let out a half-hearted laugh. "Sometimes I think he doesn't want me here at all." She finished the rest of her coffee in one gulp.

"I have to go." He got up from the booth, taking out is wallet from his pocket.

"David, no. You don't have to-"

"It's okay." He placed a few bills onto the table. "I'll see you later." He turned away from her and made his way out of the diner.

Great. Emily stood from the bench, waving at the waitress as she made her exit. Now Hale feels sorry for me. She sighed, walking back to her car and plopping down into her seat as she opened the door. She sat there for a moment, deciding on where to go. As much as she didnt want to, she made her way back to Teller Morrow. Where else was she suppose to go?

She drove into the lot and slowly walked toward the office. Emily mentally prepared herself for the lecture bother her brother and Gemma would give her for storming off. What she didn't expect was to see her niece and nephew in the office.

"Hi, Aunty Em." Kenny said before he looked back down to his video game. Ellie gave her a shy smile.

"Hey." She said to them, still trying to collect her thoughts. She walked over to Gemma, who sat behind the desk. "What are the kids doing here?" She whispered to the Old Lady.

"Mary dropped them off. Told Opie she was going to check up on Piney."

That's bullshit. Since when does she care about my dad? Gemma shrugged her shoulders, almost as if she had read Emily's mind.

Emily peered through the window that lead into the garage. She saw Dog and a couple of other people working, but not her brother. "And where is he?"

"He's out doing the club a favor." So the club reached out? That made Emily a little at ease, knowing that the club still had connections inside jail. Whatever they had asked Opie to do, she was sure it would help out the Sons. "I told him Neeta wouldn't mind looking after them for a bit."

"Don't bother Neeta." If she couldn't help the club, the least she could do was look after her brother's children. "I can take care of the kids while Opie is out."

"Well..." Gemma stood up, brushing her bangs out of the way. "I was kinda hoping you would stop by St. Thomas and check up on Chibs? I know there isn't much we can do but I would feel a lot better if someone is there to stay updated."

Why dont you go yourself? Emily shook the thought out of her head. Gemma had a lot on her plate. Having to deal with the shop all on her own, a member of the club in the hospital, and not only is her husband in jail but her son is in there too?

"Yeah, okay." She finally gave in.

"I'll take them over to Neeta and pick up Abel."

Emily nodded her head, turning to Ellie and Kenny. "Alright kids, are you guys going to give Neeta a hard time?" They shook their head at her, she smiled. "Okay, good. Come on, let's go." She walked with them over to Gemma's car, making sure they took all their belongings with them.

Gemma let herself fall into the driver's seat before slamming the door shut. "We'll be at Jax's later on. You should pass by." She said through the open window. Emily nodded her head, giving her a small smile. She took a step back as Gemma put the car in reverse. Ellie and Kenny waved at their aunt goodbye as she did the same.

It didn't take long for Emily to arrive at St. Thomas. She sort of hoped Margaret Murphy didn't catch her slipping into Chibs' room. The longer Emily could hide her connection with the club, the better.

Emily walked up to the front desk, waiting for the nurse to notice her. When she didn't, Emily cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm here to see Filip Telford."

"Are you a relative?" The nurse asked in a monotone voice. She didn't seem to keen about being behind the desk. Is that how Emily looked like whenever she got stuck in the office at Teller Morrow?

"I'm his daughter." Emily said without hesitation. She knew they wouldn't let her go through if she said she was a friend.

"Down the hall, make a right." The nurse said blandly, never bothering to look up.

Emily muttered a 'thanks' and hurried down the hall. When she reached the door, she knocked softly. Not hearing anything from inside, she let herself inside. Seeing Chibs unconscious on the bed made her heart sink. He had fresh bandages wrapped around his head. According to Tara, he was doing much better now, but Emily didn't like seeing him in the hospital.

As she walked closer to him, she saw that his eyes were closed. Mouth slightly open as she heard him breathing.

"Must be enjoying those drugs. Huh, Scotty?" She laughed to herself, taking a seat next to the bed.

"You have no idea." She jumped at the sound of his voice, letting out a small gasp. Chibs slowly opened his eyes, smirking at her.

"Jesus," Emily scoffed. "You scared me. I didn't know you were awake."

"I thought you were a nurse." He mumbled, bringing up a hand to wipe his eye.

"So you pretended you were asleep? That doesn't surprise me."

"It's good to see ya, kid." He gave her a weak smile. "Feels like forever."

She returned the smile, reaching over to grab his hand and giving it a light squeeze. "It's nice seeing you too, Chibs."

"Everything okay with the club?" He slurred his words.

"Yeah." Her heart skipped a beat. How could she tell him that he was stuck on this bed while everyone was in jail? That's definitely something she didn't want to do. "Everything is fine."

"You, my dear, are a terrible liar." Chibs sighed.

There's nothing we can do about it, anyway.

"I'm feeling a bit..." He struggled to keep his eyes open.

"You should rest." She whispered, squeezing his hand once more. She wasn't sure if he had heard her. All that was heard was a light snore.

She stayed with him for most of the afternoon, hoping he would wake up again before she had to leave. By the time visiting hours were over and the nurse had told her she had make her way out, he stayed sound asleep.

It was dark out when Emily drove over to Jax's house. When she stepped inside the house, Gemma had plates displayed for dinner. Tara had baby Abel in her arms, Ellie and Kenny sat next to her.

"Perfect timing." Gemma nodded toward the kitchen table. "Have a seat, we're having lasagna." Emily smiled in approval. This was one of her favorite dishes when Gemma took care of the Winston siblings when they were younger. It wasn't surprising that Gemma hadn't forgotten.

It was a nice dinner. Ellie and Kenny were a lot more talkative than usual, Emily liked it. Both Tara and Emily helped the kids out with their homework as Gemma cleaned the dishes.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Tara asked the kids as she swayed Abel in her arms.

"No, I guess not..." Kenny admitted. They were smart kids, but they hated doing their homework.

"If you guys keep up the good work, maybe one day you two will become doctors like Tara." Emily smirked when Tara smiled.

"I have to use the bathroom." Tara stood up, bouncing a bit as Abel disliked the sudden change. "Em, do you mind?"

"Hand over that cutie." Tara handed Abel over to her before disappearing into the living room. "Wow. You've gotten heavy, little boy."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Gemma laughed.

"Can you believe you guys were this small?" The kids just laughed as they shook their heads.

A knock came from the front door suddenly. "I'll get it!' They heard Tara call out.

"Who could that be?" Emily asked, Abel cooing in her arms.

"Don't know." Gemma mumbled, walking towards the front door to see who had shown up.

"Alright kids, pack up your homework. You're dad should be here soon." Ellie and Kenny started to put their homework back into their backpacks when Tara re-entered the kitchen. She seemed upset.

"Who was that?" Emily was almost afraid to ask.

"One of Luanne's girls. Said she was here for them." She nodded her head towards the kids. Lyla?

"Oh." Was all she could say. Whatever Lyla had said to Tara, it didn't end well. Emily wasn't about to mention the fact that she liked her.

"I'm going back to TM." Gemma entered the kitchen, grabbing her purse and car keys. "Gotta finish up some paperwork."

Emily almost flinched. It was almost as if she read what Gemma was thinking. The paperwork that would've been done earlier if YOU hadn't stormed off the way you did.

"I can do it, Gemma." Emily offered, as she began to stand up from her seat.

"No, it's okay. Stay with the kids. I'll be alright." Emily didn't bother going against her, she simply nodded. The Old Lady said her goodbyes and walked out the door, leaving Tara and Emily with the three children.

"Who wants to watch some TV?"

A short while later, another knock came from the front door. With Abel sound asleep in Emily's arms, Tara stood from the couch to answer it once again.

"Look, it's your dad!" The kids looked up from the screen, letting out a shy smile.

"How's everything?" He asked, not bothering to look over at Emily.

"They were great. We ate dinner, did homework, watched some TV. They even helped feed Abel." Tara informed him.

"Okay, you guys. Let's go. Thank Tara." Both Kenny and Ellie thanked Tara as they stood up and gathered their belongings.

"Kids, wait in the car." The children smiled at Emily as they walked by her and out the door.

"They're good kids." Said Tara, noticing how uncomfortable Opie was.

"Look," He crossed his arms over his chest, glancing at Emily as both she and Tara stared at him. "I'm sorry about the Lyla thing. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't trust her."

Tara nodded her head. "Guess we made a judgement call. Maybe you weren't thinking clearly."

"That sounds like a judgement call."

"She's a porn star."

"She's a single mom." He answered immediately, coming to Lyla's defense. "She's just trying to make it work like the rest of us." When Tara didn't reply, he looked over to his sister. He knew Emily liked Lyla and was surprised she didn't speak up. Opie sighed, looking back to Tara. "How's Jax doing with it?"

"He's figuring it out."

"Good he has you to help him."

"You'll find someone, Ope. Time is right, it'll happen." Tara tried to reassure him. It didn't seem to work.

He shifted his weight, glancing at his sister again and back to Tara. "I went by my place. All of Mary's shit is gone. She split."

"What?" That caught Emily off guard. Mary was doing so well with the kids, even admitted to loving having them around some more.

"I'm sorry." Tara said, interrupting Emily's thoughts.

"She couldn't be a mom 20 years ago. Can't do it now."

"We'll help with the kids. You're not alone, Ope."

"Yeah. I am." This was a stab to the heart for Emily. "Goodnight."

"Emily..." Tara started, taking a second before speaking up again. "He loves you. He just-"

"Yeah, well, he has a shitty way of showing it." She felt her eyes sting as tears threatened to spill. She wasn't going to cry in front of Tara. She squeezed her eyes shut, sighing as she tried to keep still while Abel stirred in her arms.

Tara's cellphone rang as she quickly answered it. "Hey, Gemma." A small pause. "Okay, yeah. I'll be right over." She hung up.

"Everything okay?"

"Elliot Oswald posted the club's bail. They're being released."

"Thank God." Emily sighed. "You should go. I'll watch over Abel until you get back."

"Are you sure? I don't want to keep you up late."

"Don't worry about me. And besides," She thought about her brother. "I don't want to go home just yet."