Ok, my dears. This is it. The last chapter. I have to say thank you so much to everyone who read and enjoyed this story and especially to those who reviewed and supported me along the way. This is, I think, the best story I've written so far and I'm very proud of it and happy how it turned out.
This is officially the end, although I may occasionally update if/when a new idea to add to it strikes me (no promises though).
Huge thank you to Brooklyn Knight. She beta'd for me and came up with a lot of the ideas for this story (I'm even inclined to say co-wrote, but last time I suggested that to her she denied that's what she was doing). Well I'm saying it anyway so take that! Anyway, call it what you want, but she did an amazing job and I love her to pieces!
Love you all and I'm gonna try to get my ass in gear here and start getting serious about my next fic. SOA of course, croweater POV? Still (and always will be) stuck on my boys, Hap and Koz, but love 'em all so still contemplating where to go exactly with my next story. I have ideas and have some stuff written out, just a matter of organizing my thoughts so if y'all are interested in more from me, follow me.
Anyway, I'll quit rambling. Enjoy!
Members from various charters had come to SAMCRO's aid. Kutte-less and under the cover of darkness, the mass number of sons had taken great measure to have no connection and no identification to the crime. Younger members, prospects and a few old timers had stayed behind at the clubhouse in what would appear to be a packed clubhouse party. Without proof otherwise any member questioned could easily give the alibi of being among the mass gathering. The table members of SAMCRO had been put in charge of the four subgroups spread out, all ready to follow through in a simultaneous and systematic attack on what was left of the rival club. After weeks of surveillance and planning, tonight would be the night SAMCRO became free of their little pests.
"Is everyone in position and ready?" Jax whispered into his phone, Opie on the other end. His VP was in position, ready to give the signal to the others on his command.
"We're all good, brother." Opie answered, looking around at all his guys.
"Ok, count of three. 1…2-"
Suddenly, shots were heard and all hell broke loose. The place exploded in gunfire, Sons storming the place and killing every piece of filth they saw. After what seemed like hours, but in reality had only been minutes, the chaos came to sudden stop and the Sons stood throughout various rooms of the house. It was done.
Jax looked down the hallway toward the back of the house, not sure if he was really hearing what he thought he was. He pushed Juice out of the way and headed for the sound. Happy stood in the doorway silent and looking conflicted. The emotion looked so out of place on the killer, who had such a black-and-white view of the world.
Though he had prepared himself for the worse, Jax still wasn't ready for the shock of what awaited in the room. Emaciated, a woman lay dead on the floor, the blossom of crimson between her breasts matched the small lesions on her face. Recognizing the signs, he couldn't say he was surprised to find the infected and inflamed veins on her left arm. The tourniquet still on her bicep and the syringe near her limp right hand, it was clear to see she was shooting up when shit had gone down.
What did shake him, however, was the little whimper coming from the crib in the corner that soon began to escalate into a full on cry. Kozik, remembering seeing Jax take care of Abel and Thomas, picked up the baby and began to shush it. The kid couldn't be much more than a few months old.
Kozik managed to quiet him down some, then looked at the other guys in the room and shook his head. "What the fuck happened?" Jax asked, looking at Happy and Kozik. They'd been positioned at the back of the house where the first shots had been fired.
"Fucker saw us." Happy nodded to the body of a member outside the door. "He took the first shot, then ran like a bitch." For a man that lived, died, and killed for his family, that dug at Hap in a bad way. Whether his kid or a brother's, that fucker should have died trying to protect him, not leave him on his own unprotected.
Jax sighed as he ran his gloved hands over his face. This shit was something he did not see coming. Bitch had to be a dedicated junkie to not ever leave the house in the weeks they had been watching it. Obviously not much of that time had gone to the neglected child in Kozik's arms, finally quiet.
"What do we do about that?" The killer asked, motioning to the baby.
Jax sighed again.
"Can't leave him here. We need at least a few weeks." Kozik reminded. The plan was to clean up all evidence and get rid of the bodies. It would take at least a week before anyone actually came around and by that time, when the sons would eventually be questioned, they would simply say that they had come to an agreement that the newer club would leave and they of course, all being at the clubhouse and on lock down the subsequent days, couldn't have had anything to do with the disappearances.
"Can't hand him over to someone, they'd lead them back to us and any safe haven spot has cameras everywhere." Juice input. The brothers looked around trying to think of something, only to find a dead end at every turn. No matter what they came up as a solution, it seemed as if there was no way to prevent this blowing back on the club.
As the president, Jax was left with the uneasy decision. "We'll take him back to the clubhouse for now. See what we can come up with. Maybe Unser can help." Jax decided. "I'm gonna call Tara, have her meet us there and take a look at him, make sure he's ok." He looked at Kozik as he pulled his phone out. "The rest of you head out to the vans and check in. Make sure no other junkies decided to invest in biker daycare tonight. I'll catch up in a minute."
As Kozik started to hand the baby over to Chibs, the crying started up again. He clearly didn't want to be let go. "I'll guess I'll take him." Kozik surrendered to the shrill cries coming from the baby who seemed too small to be making such a loud noise. Loading up with others in the back of the unmarked, generic van he knew his and Happy's celebration with Lana would be put on hold.
SOA
"Are they ok?" Lana badgered Tara after hearing her side of the conversation with Jax. The old ladies had secluded themselves from the fake party and waited impatiently in Gemma's office.
"They're fine. They took care of the other club, but… we have another problem." Tara answered, Lana, Gemma, and Lyla all looking at her confused.
Not long after, the garage doors opened and one of the four unmarked vans pulled in. The prospect at the wheel quickly got out to close the bay door, waiting until they were no longer visible before tapping the doors to signal it was clear. Lana watched intently and sighed in relief when she saw Happy emerge from the back. However, her stomach dropped when she noticed he and others look towards the back, Kozik still not having emerged. Not again. He couldn't be hurt again.
She ran out to the van, her eyes burning at the thought of only greeting his body. The shock of her life happened when instead of one lifeless, she found two living. The sight of Kozik holding a baby left her speechless. She just stared at him until Tara came up and gently moved her away from the door so she could take the baby. He started crying again, but she skillfully quieted him again.
"What-?" Lana began, watching Tara walk away with the baby.
Kozik shook his head. "Kid was in the house. Cranked up mom got caught in the cross fire." He said, looking at Lana. He felt like shit. They'd made the kid an orphan, had put his life in danger. Killing a bunch of scumbags and druggie whores was one thing, but an innocent baby?
Taking the baby inside, Tara immediately got him out of his dirty clothes and changed his diaper. She wrapped him in a clean blanket and prepared a bottle for him, glad she had Thomas' diaper bag with her.
Just then, as if sensing his mother's attention was not fully on him, Thomas woke up and began crying. Tara looked at Lana as she came inside. "Can you take him for a minute?"
Lana was still confused as to what had happened, but she reached out and took the baby and the bottle Tara held out to her. As she began feeding the baby, Gemma asked Jax what the hell had happened and he explained everything, including their very limited options and the risk of connection with each one. He then motioned to all the guys and headed into the clubhouse for church.
The baby soon finished the whole bottle and Lana held him up to burp and soothe him back to sleep while they waited. She'd never had much experience with kids, but as a nurse she knew the basics. However, this felt different. Unlike at work she couldn't help but take a special interest in the chubby pink cheeks of the boy, or the wisp of honey brown hair, or even the dark green eyes that would probably lighten to a lighter green. Her eyes couldn't help but always go back to his little head resting against her chest. Gemma watched as the baby cooed at Lana, his eyes beginning to close as she cradled him in her arms. She also noticed the way Lana was looking down at him, mesmerized.
Back inside the clubhouse a while later, Lana barely noticed the church doors open as the guys came out. Kozik and Happy saw her and stopped, watching her for a minute. They looked at each other with knowing expressions.
"Call Unser." Jax's voice grabbed Lana's attention suddenly.
She looked up. "Jax." She said before she even realized his name was out of her mouth. He stopped and looked at her and her eyes flew to Happy and Kozik before going back to Jax. "I'll take him." It was a surprising desperate cry that came from deep within, unplanned and unable to be taken back, not like she wanted to anyways.
Lana couldn't help but look back at Happy and Kozik as soon as she realized silence had fallen over the group, the sounds of the party, which had mostly moved outside, not enough to break the tension amongst them. A decision like this affected both of her old men and she wasn't quite sure either of them would be okay with it. Yeah, they had as much as told her they would both be ok with a kid, but this would be something completely different than having one of their own. This was...insane.
She looked to Kozik, the one who had already had a child. His ex had been afraid of the club life and had taken off with their daughter when she'd been a child so he'd never had a chance to really know her or be a father to her, but he still knew the responsibility and need to protect. Lana silently pleaded with him to agree. She knew he was more likely than Hap to give in. However before she could get a response Happy had to distract them. In the time that had passed since they'd last spoken about this kind of thing, it was more than possible for Hap to have reconsidered and changed his mind on the matter. Maybe he had become too comfortable in their triangle lifestyle and was no longer ok with adding a child into the mix.
"Lana!" Happy quickly gained her attention. He nodded towards the chapel. "Leave that." He pointed to the baby when she started his way still holding the kid.
Lana stopped and narrowed her eyes at him. "He's sleeping." She said through slightly clenched teeth.
Happy glared back, but stepped aside to let her into the chapel before following, Jax and Kozik right behind them. Jax closed the doors and Lana looked between him and Happy.
"What the fuck is Unser gonna do, huh?" She asked him angrily, but still trying to keep her voice down as to not wake the baby in her arms. "Jax said it himself, you can't take him to the cops, you can't just dump him at the hospital or somewhere or you risk being seen. What else is there?"
"Lana, it's a kid, not a used car. You can't just take him." Jax spoke up as a friend. As a president he couldn't be more relieved, knowing the club's problem would be solved and the kid would be going to a good home. Thinking of how the club used to be, Jax knew if Clay still held the gavel that poor kid would have been handed off to some croweater or more likely just left to be found, scared, sick, and starved. It was giving him a migraine similar to a hangover just thinking of how sideways this shit had gone. Never before had SAMCRO had this kind of problem.
"Why not, Jax? He needs someone to take care of him. You just gonna leave him on someone's doorstep? As if that's so much better."
Happy sighed and she looked back at his cold black stare. "What if this is it for us?" She shook her head and looked down, then back up looking between him and Kozik. "I never thought I'd want kids. I always figured I'd be a shitty mom, like my own mother. Caring more about myself than anybody else. But something is telling me this is right. I see this kid and I see all the great things he'll do and all the happiness he'll bring us..." A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she looked at the baby in her arms, his mouth open slightly as he slept.
Kozik's expression softened, but was still unsure. Happy remained stone-faced. The baby shifted in Lana's arms and cooed again. She looked down at him and her expression softened. Looking back up, she met Kozik's eyes.
"She's right, Jax. There is no other option." His easy agreement shocked the President. He trusted his old lady with all that he had. And if she said this baby was the one he was meant to have a second chance on, then it was.
She looked back at Happy, who narrowed his eyes and glanced down at the baby. Looking back up at Lana, he felt himself giving in as well. It came a lot sooner than expected and inside he was scared shitless, but he held firm and gave a single nod of agreement. He would do anything for his club and anything for his old lady. He lived, he died, he killed for his family. Apparently it had just gotten one bigger.
"You all are crazy, but ok." Jax said looking in between Happy and Kozik. "I'll call Unser and see what he can do as far as documentation. Maybe have Juice hack some systems. Can't have a kid without records." Jax turned and walked out the door, closing it again behind him, knowing there was more for the three to talk about.
"So does this mean you both are in this with me?" Lana asked quietly. "Because if so, that's it. There's no going back. If you're in, you're in forever. My father walked out on me and that feeling of abandonment never goes away, no matter how much you try to convince yourself you hate the bastard. Either of you pull that shit and I swear, I'll hunt you down and slit your goddamn throat."
Kozik stepped forward and grabbed her face in between his hands, kissing her forehead. "I ain't going anywhere, Lana." He reached down and ran his hand over the top of the baby's head. "I ain't getting any younger. Time for me to settle down. The kid'll be SAMCRO born and bred, I'll make sure of it." He said with a smirk before heading for the door to join the party.
She looked up at Happy. "My father walked out on me too, Lana. I'd never do that shit." He said earnestly. "Besides, I don't doubt for one second you would have the balls to murder me in my sleep if I pissed you off enough… Mama." He said with a small smile as he looked down at the baby she was still holding. Not even an hour with the kid and she was already fiercely protective of the little brat.
He moved for the door, wanting to join the party for a little while, but Lana reached for his arm. "You know babies are messy right?" She could imagine him walking in the house one day to toys scattered everywhere.
His jaw twitched and she couldn't stop the smile. He reached out and tugged the blanket up a little more under the baby's chin. "It's 'ight. You get to tell my Ma." This time it was Happy who got to smile.