Chapter 9- New Player

'I'm gonna kill him'

'look bro you heard what Red said, she said to leave it'

'that's because she's good, she's nice and she doesn't like hurting people'

'but the club would have to agree man'

'I know Hap and Piney wanna kill that Mayan piece of shit'

'yeah and me Ope would gladly do it, but that ain't what she wants bro'

Standing outside the door she could clearly hear her father's rant whilst Jax tried to calm him down, she knew that Rodrigo had been going on to Jax and Opie taunting them about the beat down Emery had received mainly from his sister, but she still didn't understand why they couldn't understand that she didn't want them going off half-cocked ready to start a war with the Mayans, it wasn't worth it, especially not for her, how many members of her family would get hurt or maybe even killed?, she couldn't handle that, she wouldn't be able to live with that. Already feeling shit, dealing with her dad when he was in this mood was just something she couldn't face right now, she was still reeling from her embarrassment, how was she supposed to face Ryan at school tomorrow, she couldn't. Hearing her dads voice get louder she took a deep breath and opened the front door to find her dad pacing with Jax sitting on the coffee table and Opie lounging on the sofa,

'I said I don't want you guy's to do anything, not to Rita, and not to Rodrigo' her dad tried to butt in but she held her hand up to him, shutting him up and making Jax and Opie look to each other 'this was my fight and Rita won, just leave it at that, I won't have you start a war over this, I won't let people I love get hurt over something so minor'

'Minor! She could have killed you Emery' Tig shouted at her, making Jax instantly wanna get the hell out of dodge, this wasn't gonna end well

'yeah well she didn't okay, so just let it go! It's my business ill handle it as I see fit' she raised her voice to match her fathers, stepping forward practically squaring up to him, Opie couldn't help but admire the way her grey eyes shone out fiercely, early on he and Jax had learnt not to go against Emery's wishes when it came to stuff like this when Jax had once started beating on some kid for trying to kiss her early on in high school, they'd seen that she was struggling to get away from him then Jax had stepped in, soon after though she had asked Opie to drag him off the bloodied boy and once he had she'd stepped between Jax and the boy, Jax seeing red tried to get around Emery all the while her telling him to leave it and that he'd done enough to the kid Jax being as pig headed as he was continued to try and grab the kid but was shocked into stillness when Emery had slapped him hard across the face, needless to say Jax left the kid alone after that.

'no I won't stand by and let that assole Rodrigo get away with hitting you, and I'll kill that bitc-'

'Stop! Look I really can't be assed to sit here and deal with you acting like a damn child! I don't get involved in your shit so stay the hell out of mine!' she shouted as she barged past him sending Tig staggering back a little as her shoulder slammed into his arm as she passed him and stormed up the stairs slamming her bedroom door shut behind her

'what the hell was that' Tig asked the boys in disbelief, Emery never spoke to him like that, hell, to say she was Samcro she was the most respectful out of all of em especially to him,

'maybe she's had a bad day?' Jax smirked at Tig, Tig obviously not amused

'yeah I was really getting that bad day vibe, then you just went and shit on her to make it worse' Opie piped up trying not to laugh

Sat on her bed holding Tiberius, she couldn't help but feel guilty she'd laid into her dad when all he wanted was to defend her, albeit rather stupidly but still she knew her dad was a do now, think about it later kinda guy. This day was just getting worse, she'd embarrassed herself in the worst way, making her friendship with Ryan awkward and now she'd been a complete ass to her dad, letting out a groan she face planted her bed stretching out face down, lying there she couldn't help but think about how she wished her mother was here, then she could talk to someone about what she could do, she obviously couldn't talk to her dad about what she thought of Ryan and definitely not any of the other sons, she needed a woman's advice as she wasn't entirely sure Gemma was the woman for the job, she'd probably talk to Clay, Clay would tell her dad then Ryan would no doubt be threatened to stay away from her and her dad definitely wouldn't let her anywhere near him. Why she was bothered she didn't know, let's face it Ryan wasn't interested he'd made that pretty clear, she just needed to suck it up, grow some balls and put it down to experience.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a knock at the door, 'go away' her voice was muffled slightly by the fact her face was still firmly planted in her bed, she heard the door creak open and secretly prayed it wasn't her dad, she could still see the shock in his face as she shouted at him, as another wave of guilt hit. Lying still she felt the bed go down beside her and a big hand began stroking the back of her hair

'wanna talk about it?' Opie's deep voice rang out

'not really' she muttered, he stopped stroking her hair and laughed when her hand started blindly feeling around for his, and placing it back on her head for him to continue stroking her hair once she'd found it.

'I'm guessing you were having a bad day before you walked in on our conversation?' he asked as she simply just nodded her head

'sure you don't wanna talk about it?' he asked again hoping she'd just spill he hated to see her like this, he felt like he always had quite a good read on her, he always knew if she was upset or angry, but he hadn't seen that coming, he hadn't really had a read on her since that day she had to stich up Tig. He didn't like it, he knew she thought she was the weak link in the club but she wasn't, she was everyone's humanity, the fact that they did bad things, horrible things to people, sometimes just to get their own way and they did it that often that most members did it without even thinking, without even feeling the guilt afterwards, but she always did and seeing her feel how they should feel brought them back, reminded them that what they were doing wasn't right but necessary, that it was to keep their family safe.

'come on redbird it can't be that bad'

'look really Ope, I appreciate it, I really do but I don't wanna talk about it'

'okay well me, your dad and Jax are heading over to the club, wanna come?'

Instantly she thought about Ryan, and internally cringed

'nah, im good, probably just gonna stay here and eat ice cream, contemplate life' she sat up slowly turning to face him 'does he hate me?' she asked furrowing her eyebrows

'no he's shocked but he doesn't hate you' he chuckled 'everyone has bad days Em' he shrugged before kissing her head and leaving as she slumped back down onto her bed.

Not even realising she'd fallen asleep until she woke in darkness, she made her way downstairs to make some coffee, after pouring it and adding milk and sugar the phone began ringing, picking it up she was thankful to hear a cheery voice

'hey hun, I tried ringing earlier and I tried your cell, were you out?' April asked

'oh no Ape I kinda fell asleep' she responded

'what's wrong, you sound down'

'oh you know I just went and completely made a tit of myself to Ryan' she sighed

'Surely it wasn't that bad?' she asked her curiosity now peaked

'oh, I dunno, I'd call kissing him, and him standing there shocked and then tried to start babbling some excuse or apology pretty bad' without thinking she let out a slight giggle when she herd April start to laugh

'Emery that could only happen to you, come on what was his excuse or apology?'

'I think that's what im more embarrassed about I just ran' she laughed again holding her head in her free hand as her curls fell forward at the movement 'I literally ran, Ape, I didn't even hear out what he had to say. Then to top it all off I came home to find dad talking to Jax and Opie about how he wanted to beat the shit out of the Rita and Rodrigo and I just flipped at him, so im embarrassed and feel like an assole' hearing April chuckling on the other end of line she just smiled 'it's not funny April!'

'Oh yeah? Then why are you laughing?' she breathed through laughing 'look it's not the end of the world, your dads probably already over it and you just need to talk to Ryan, it's a small friendship circle, your defo gonna run in to him. Like all the time Em'

'yeah I know, I know its just frustrating, and I think I'll give the avoiding him at all costs a try first. Anyway why were you calling, not that I don't enjoy listening to you laugh at my expense' she teased her blonde friend

'well I've spoken to Donna and we were thinking we could go grab pizza or something after school tomorrow?' she asked

'yeah sure I'm in'

After April had finished filling her in on the gossip at school and Emery had helped her with her Spanish homework she'd made a lasagne with salad and left some in the fridge for when her father got home. 10 o'clock soon came around without no sign of her father, beginning to worry she decided to call Clay feeling slightly relieved when he answered

'hey Clay it's Em, I was just wondering if you knew where my pa is? He still hasn't come home'

'oh hey baby girl, erm were just tryna sort out some things, hopefully he'll be back soon' he sounded distant and hesitant, obviously something was wrong

'hopefully? What do you mean hopefully? Is something wrong?' she replied starting to stress at Clays underlying words

'listen, don't stress, but I need to go I'll send Jax or Ryan round later to fill you in'

'no, I'm coming round ' she began putting on her boots and Jacket,

'no look it'll get sorted beside you can't get here, you're not walking this late at night, I mean it Emery stay at home' knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with Clay she just agreed and put the phone down, picking up her bag and putting it over her head so it came across her body she picked up her keys and began her journey to the clubhouse. Normally if she was walking somewhere she'd have her head phones in but walking in the dark made her not want to make herself deaf to anything that might be coming her way. The usual journey to the clubhouse seemed to be taking forever even though she was practically running through the streets. Finally bursting through the doors to the clubhouse it was almost like gate crashing a funeral with the expression's shown on everyone's face, 'what is it? What's wrong' she panted before being grabbed not to gently by the arm by Clay who had begun dragging her towards the chapel, whispering angrily about the fact that she'd disobeyed him. Firmly planting her feet on the floor she wrenched her arm from his grip causing him to turn wide eyed to her. 'where's my dad Clay?' she said voice deadly causing Jax to step towards her fearing that she'd say something which would cause a volatile reaction from Clay, he knew Clay would never hit Emery he wasn't however so sure that when she heard the news, that Emery would refrain herself from hitting Clay which would end very badly. Gemma had also stepped forward, if it came down to it Jax was very sure that his ma would back Clay, she loved Emery but she was his old lady she had to back him, especially in public.

'I'm here angel' feeling herself relax slightly at the sound of her father's voice, though seeing the expression plastered on his face and the bruise's that covered it she couldn't help feeling anxious as she ran to him pulling him into a hug.

'what happened?' she practically whispered, touching a delicate hand softly to each bruise until he stepped back from her, moving her hands from his face,

'I didn't wanna say nothin until we knew what was happening?' his voice was flat and unemotional she didn't like it, it was wrong, looking around it was all wrong, the clubhouse only held happy and funny memories for her, never had she seen these expressions placed upon her family's face when gathered here. A knock on the front door made every head turn, she didn't miss the fact her dad took a deep breath and straightened himself as Clay went to answer it giving Emery the stink eye as he passed her, making her have to fight the extremely immature urge of not sticking her tongue out at him. She heard voices which then became raised as officers stormed into the room grabbing for Tig who acted like he didn't give a shit and that it didn't affect him at all, she heard a tall black haired officer read him his rights and say that he was arrested for aggravated assault. Inside she was numb, and without even realising it that wall she had made, that she had hidden behind for months came crumbling down around her, as her tears escaped her whilst she called for her dad and went to him holding on to his cuffed hands trying desperately to keep a grip as though she was 6 years old again.

Jax watched her as she broke, crying and gripping onto her father's bound hands as he tried to shh her and tell her that everything was gonna be alright, but it wasn't and Jax knew that, the fact that Tig was being arrested wasn't that bad a thing or really that big a deal, knowing most of the things Tig had ever done he was lucky to only being locked up for aggravated assault, with Richard on the case he'll probably get two years max hopefully less. No that wasn't the issue the issue was that the Sons didn't really have any allies on the inside they had no protection. Tig had no protection. Not being able to handle seeing his Red this way he made his way to her, and put his arms around her to try and pry her off of her father 'come on Emery, you've gotta let him go. we'll figure something out I promise' and he would, he'd handle it, he'd sort something out maybe with the Niner's, or as a last resort the Mayans though he really didn't see that happening anytime soon the Niner's were definitely his best option. Tig had known that he'd be getting arrested and had made the whole club promise one thing and that was that Emery wasn't to know that he'd have no protection inside. Otto had told him it was a bad idea, that Emery was smart and intuitive and he was right and that's why Jax had to do something and quick, he'd already enlisted Opie to help him, his next step would be Ryan and Juice.

Once she'd been pulled away from her father and he had left in the back of the police car she wiped her tears and calmly asked what had happened, they'd told her there was an issue with Darby again and that the police had turned up when Tig had a gun to a badly beaten Darby's head who was knelt on the floor in pretty bad shape, there was no way to avoid him being arrested, Darby had set them up and for the first time in her life she felt real anger, not the same she'd ever felt with Rita or the Mayan's, Darby in some way shape or form had taken her father from her and for that he was gonna pay, that she was sure of. After everyone had had a couple of drinks and she had come to terms with the fact that her dad wasn't going to be coming home anytime soon, and like everything else that was thrown at them she just had to deal with it.

'okay, im gonna go home, there's nothing I can do for him other than wait and carry on' she sighed 'can you let me know what happens with Richard Clay? And please make sure you get me visitation' he just simply nodded at her giving her a hug

'I'll give you a lift back' Ryan's voice called towards her, she hadn't even noticed that he had been there sitting at the bar with Juice, pretty much as soon as her eyes met his she looked away

'It's okay, I can walk' she replied not looking at him

'That's not gonna happen' Jax drawled coming towards her 'Ry don't mind, do you Ry?' Jax asked and she knew he knew something was up and this was his way of clarifying it

'Wouldn't have said it if I didn't' Ryan's deep voice reached her

'Jax, you mind taking me? I wanna talk to you about something anyway' she didn't look at Ryan but Jax did and he didn't miss the hurt expression that crossed his face,

'sure, let's go' he guided her to the door. To say she wanted to talk was bullshit and he knew it she just wanted to get away from Ryan but why? Had he hurt her? He'd kill him if he had. She didn't talk for the whole journey back she didn't even speak when she let him into the house,

'Okay Red put me out of my misery what's up with you and Ry? Did he hurt you?' he asked as she handed him a beer

'nothing I just wanted to be able to spend some time with my best friend, that okay with you Teller?' she smiled at him and to be honest, he practically forgot about it just seeing her smile was a sight especially since she'd been pretty miserable and hardly smiled since her beating from Rita.

The final verdict for her father was that he'd be jailed for 18 months but would be out in 15 for good behaviour, though she wasn't gonna hold her breath for that. Sitting on her bed doing homework on her laptop, she didn't hear someone creep in until Chibs' Scottish accent rag out, 'hey lassie' he smiled at her, she smiled back, her life had gotten back to normal pretty much although it was still early days she went to see her dad once a week, he'd been inside now for a month, he'd seemed okay apart from the odd bruises and cuts that constantly appeared, Clay had promised her that he had protection inside and that him getting into a few fight's was normal.

'hey Chibby, just give me a sec and I'll be ready' she beamed to him

'okay, I'll be downstairs' she nodded at him as he turned and walked downstairs. Finishing her assignment, she stood and stretched before walking over to her drawers and pulling out some skinny grey jeans that sat at her hip, she'd changed into sweat pants and a tank top once she'd got back from school, putting on a thin white vest top, she slipped a shear white flowing top over it which ended just below her hip, and pulled on some black heeled boots, tucking her throwing knife into them and grabbing her bag she made her way downstairs.

Ryan parked his bike up at the clubhouse, and turned when he heard the roar of another bike, it was Chibs and riding bitch was Emery, sighing he began making his way into the clubhouse, it didn't take a genius to realise that she was avoiding him, she avoided him at school, she avoided the clubhouse when she knew he was here, all he wanted was to talk to her, to apologise but he couldn't even get close, he'd tried talking to her and she just answered him simply yes or no in front of others or if they were alone she'd make an excuse and leave. He knew she hadn't talked to any of the sons about it because he still had his head. Gemma had started having family dinners more often and he knew it was Gemma's way of checking in on Em without her knowing at least that's what Gemma thought but he knew Em was smart she would have smelt it out a mile away. He couldn't help but watch her, he didn't know what it was about her that he was so drawn too, they were completely different people, she was kind and good natured hell she wanted to be a doctor, he was cruel and heartless, he was a criminal, not that he minded, he loved this life, it was what he was built for, he was built to be a man of mayhem.

She could feel his eyes on her, each time she had to fight to not lock eyes with the brown haired green eyed boy, and if she was being completely honest with herself she missed him, she knew she would but it wasn't the same. Her attention was pulled from the meal when the phone rang, she got up to answer it, hearing the voice on the other end say it was a call from Stockton she began feeling slightly anxious, she said that she accepted the call, hearing the voice on the other side she really just wanted to block it out, her dad had been badly beaten by some blacks, which left her confused since Clay had said her dad had protection from the blacks, she passed the phone on to Jax when he approached her and she walked outside to make a call of her own. If Clay wasn't gonna guarantee her father's protection, then she'd secure it herself, she knew how the game was played, only now it was time for her to start playing it.