Sorry about the wait but here is the fourth chapter 22 I have written. I really hope you enjoy it!

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Three weeks into January and Bella stuck by her feeling that this was going to be a bad year. First was her arrest, which yes she had caused herself but still, it hadn't been fun. Second her house, which the Club had helped her rebuild very quickly and was now looking better than ever. Then Hale had been dogging her steps more than ever, determined to arrest her for real and she hadn't seen her dad or mom since Christmas.

In the grand scheme of things it wasn't too bad, but things just felt like they were building. The other Prospect was getting shorter and shorter with her, making work almost unbearable when they were on the same shift. Renee had tried calling her twice more, each time Bella refused to pick up but she had a deep worry that it wasn't over with her. Obviously they were family so it shouldn't ever be over, but Renee had quite happily gone years before without any contact. Why now was she so eager to build bridges?

"Bells?"

Bella jerked her head out of the hood she was under, her mind anywhere but on her work. Jax was looking at her with a small frown of concern.

"Sorry, world of my own. What's up?" She asked.

"Not like you to be so far away, you good?" Jax asked, lighting a cigarette and offering her one.

She took the proffered smoke and lit it before answering. "Yeah just thinking about stuff."

"Not still scared to be at home are ya?"

Bella smirked back at him, though she could detect true concern in his blue eyes. "I'm a big girl now Jax, I can stay home all alone. I even sleep without a nightlight."

She could joke about it now but she had been scared the first few days back at her house, jumping at every little noise. She had made sure she was always armed with both a knife and gun, even while just sitting at her table with a coffee and a good book. Three days after she had moved back in and three days without sleep, Happy turned up on her doorstep and let himself in with two full duffel bags.

At her question of, "what's all this?" he replied very simply with; "my shit, room in the closet?"

Since then she had slept better with him in bed every night with her. Or not sleeping as was the case most of the time. She'd even stopped showering with a gun. He made her feel safe and carried on teaching her all about the multitude of weapons he had. Together they had quite the arsenal which she thought helped with the safe feeling and restful sleep.

Jax shook his head with a smirk and a small roll of his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, that's 'cause you're shacking up with Hap. No wonder ya feel safe. How's that going?"

"Great, he's really easy to live with, believe it or not," Beall replied honestly. He helped with chores, didn't leave a mess and in the privacy of their home was very attentive to all of her needs. She tried to make sure to repay the favor of course. Judging by the smile he left the house with most days she thought she wasn't doing too bad a job of that.

"I believe it, he's getting tail off you. Can't imagine he'd be as laid back if he was livin' with any of us," Jax chuckled letting out a cloud of grey-blue smoke.

"I don't know, a couple of flirty little numbers, bedroom eyes and you might have a shot Jackson. Should I be concerned you might try and steal my man?"

"Nah, thanks, I'll stick with a nice pair of tits, he's all yours," Jax said, throwing the butt of his cigarette to the floor.

"Good to know," Bella giggled as she copied him and went back to work, more focused now. It was amazing what just a chat with Jax could do.

She sang along to the radio as she tried her best to fix the shitty Pruis without bankrupting the owner, a nice single mother from the bad side of town.

Bella was just debating ringing the woman and telling her to scrap the pile of junk when someone pinched her ass.

She spun around, her hand already coming up to smack the offender when her face broke into a smile.

"Hey babe," she grinned, turning the smack quickly into a hug, her heart starting the familiar fast pace it took around him.

"Spitfire," he said, his tone even, his face blank, but she could see the happiness in his deep brown eyes. His large, calloused hands came to rest on her ass and he pulled her body flush against his.

"Good day?"

"Mmm… better now, for sure," Happy smirked, squeezing her ass and jerking her suggestively against himself.

"Oi! Love birds! Clay's calling church!" Tig yelled from in front of the garage. Bella hadn't even realized he'd arrived with Happy. She probably needed to work on her observation skills while he was around. But he had his large, calloused, decadent hands on her and she couldn't think properly when he was touching her.

"Fucking cock block," Happy snarled but she could see the humor in his eyes as he bent to kiss her.

"Hey if you were going to fuck right here, then don't let me stop ya. Clay can wait. And I can watch. Mmm Hmm, sweet baby Jesus getting to see those tits bounce," Tig said in a low voice.

"Perv!" Bella slung at her sponsor before pressing her lips quickly to Happy's. "I'll see you later."

"Oh baby, I hope so!" Tig answered her, a huge grin stretching his face as she flipped him off.

Happy shook his head and slapped her ass before following after Tig, she watched him walk away wishing he wore tighter pants so she could really enjoy the view. Still, his t-shirt was tight enough that she could make out the slight flexing of his back muscles. She bit her lip before turning back to the shitty Pruis with a sigh.

0101010101

"We got a problem," Clay started out the meeting. No preamble, no joking, straight to the point. That usually meant shit had gone past hitting the fan and had already been flung everywhere.

Clay took a moment to take in every man around the table, his usual cigar missing, his hand still loosely clutching the gavel.

"Unser's trucks are being hi-jacked and not by us. Drivers haven't been able to make out any accents, no bikes, no colors. We got nothing to go on. If we are going to keep our little friendship with the good Sheriff, we need to fix this," Clay laid the problem out for them all. Happy nodded along with Tig and Bobby. They needed the Sheriff sweet. They needed as many pigs sweet as they could get and they already had Hale riding their asses.

"Alright, how d'ya wanna play this? Visible protection?" Piney asked.

Jax looked thoughtful, his hand rubbing along the bum fluff he was calling facial hair. "We can do that, or we can pull a Trojan Horse?"

"How many deliveries are we looking at?" Juice looked thoughtful now. That could be dangerous.

Happy was thinking about what kind of hardware he had on hand, what could be useful.

"There's three set for tomorrow night, we'd be stretched thin, too thin on all three," Clay said, looking tired as he flipped the gavel.

That would be three men a piece if they took the prospect. One team could have four if they took Spitfire too. He was gonna veto that shit though. It could be doable, depending on the size of the crews jacking the trucks.

"How many of those guys we talking about? What they carrying?" He asked, they needed the facts before they made a plan.

"One driver saw three guys, pretty sure he was doped up though so we can't trust that," Clay said. "Two other drivers said four. Came in two cars, boxed 'em in. From what they said they were carryin' the shit my Old Lady would. Could be true. Could be that they have better shit. That's the problem, we don't know. We can't make it in three teams. If there's four in the crew, even with the element of surprise we don't want any fuck up's that could turn deadly."

"So we split in two, take tha two that 'ave the highest pay offs, Trojan 'em both," Chibs said with a shrug before lighting a smoke. "Tool up good 'n' proper, job's a good'un."

Happy nodded, he didn't disagree with that.

"Alrigh'. Jax, Tig, Op, you're with me. We'll bring the Princess along. The rest of you in the other one, take the shit-head with you. Let's see if he can't make a better impression while under fire," Clay said firmly.

Happy opened his mouth to argue. His Spitfire was sitting this shit out. She could be at the clubhouse, just in case some shit went down there. Though, knowing how much of a fucking Danger Magnet she was maybe that wasn't the smartest move either. They'd probably get shot up or fuckin' invaded or some shit. If, she had to go on this, he at least wanted her with him. He could look out for her and get the job done.

"Hey, don't worry Hap man. I got your girl. She'll be real safe with me," Tig leered exaggeratedly.

"She would take great pleasure in breaking any part of you that touched her," Happy said, tilting his chin up briefly.

His Spitfire would fuck up anyone touching her she didn't want. That he knew from that dead man out by the cabin, also because she was gonna hit him with her right hook earlier before she saw who it was. Fuckin' Spitfire alright.

"I like the pain," Tig winked with another exaggerated leer.

"When we're done, get the prospects to dig a grave for this dumb fucker too," Clay said with a head nod towards Tig. Laughter went around the table as the tension that had been there at the beginning started to fade.

"Aww, don't be that way Clay I can-"

"Whatever is going to come out of your sick and twisted mind I don't want to hear it. Bad enough Happy's going to take you out, if Quinn finds out you'll be dead three times over. And you ain't taking me down with ya," Clay chuckled banging the gavel and ending the meeting among smiles and laughter. This is why he fucking loved this family. Things might go sideways from time to time but as long as they had each other it came together sooner or later.

0202020202

Considering the anxiety and fear she felt earlier she was now surprisingly bored. Sitting silently in the back of a truck carting electronics with Tig, Clay, Opie and Jax was not the exciting near death mission she had been expecting. Instead she watched Opie and Jax nudge each other with their shoulders every now and then. Tig played with a flick knife and Clay kept glancing at his phone. She wished she had brought a book.

The back of the truck smelt damp and musty. The cardboard boxes were stacked around them and with every corner she worried she was going to be taken out by a stereo or something. She was too clumsy to be around precariously stacked heavy stuff.

They'd been in the truck for three hours and something minutes. According to a whisper from Clay they'd make the delivery within another hour. It was looking more and more likely that this delivery wasn't going to be hijacked. Which was obviously a good thing, but boring. And left her with too much time to worry about the others. Especially Happy.

She knew that Happy was one of the best, he was deadly. You didn't get a nickname like the Tomoca Killer without being good at your trade. Not in their circles anyway. He could take care of himself. The others weren't slouches either. No-one would get the jump on them, no-one would be able to take them out. No matter what she told herself though the pit of worry she harbored wouldn't dissipate.

The bed of the truck was crowded, uncomfortable and really hot to say it was still January. Under her black zip-up hoodie and black beanie she was sweating. The others looked about the same too, so she didn't feel so bad about her weakness. They all had the same human weaknesses after all. She didn't have to try and be something other than that with them.

"Next time I'm bringing a deck of cards. How does strip poker sound Princess?" Tig said in a low voice, a leer on his face.

"Like you're suicidal," Jax answered him.

"Like you should shut the fuck up already," Clay replied.

Bella shook her head with a smirk.

"You got any more fights coming up Bells?" Jax asked after a while of more silence. She was trying really hard not to stare at her watch constantly. She did not need to know how much time was not passing.

"Nope, not until we start competing out of the area. No one from around here will touch me."

"Not surprised," Clay said, giving her a proud smile.

Bella gave a small grin in return but it wasn't anything to do with her at all. It was all due to the club. Word had been spread. First that her boyfriend was in the club, then that all her family were, then that she had been a prospect. Despite that she'd had a fight or two since her debut. But then word had gotten out somehow that her Old Man was the Tacoma Killer, after that all the fights stopped. She still went and trained once a week though.

The truck was slowing down when Clay's cell lit up the dim cab. Her heart knocked hard against her throat as he answered.

"Yeah?"

"Anyone hurt?"

"He okay?"

"Get them somewhere safe, Unser's place might be a good idea. We'll be there."

Clay hung up and everyone stared at him, the tension palatable. Bella grabbed onto Jax's hand, not caring about being seen as weak right then. The man that she had given her heart too had been in danger. He might be hurt. She still hadn't told him that she was in love with him. What if he'd been hurt seriously? What if any of the others had been? She could barely hear over the pounding of her heart. Had it always been that loud?

"The other's got hit. Chibs got a slash, he'll be fine though. They managed to get two of the crew. They're gonna take them to Unser's where we can get some info outta them," Clay said and Bella's breath she hadn't realized she was holding left her in a great gush. They were fine. Happy was fine.

"What ya wanna do with Princess?" Tig asked warily.

Clay looked at her with sharp, calculating eyes. "She watches with us."

Jax inhaled sharply. "You sure that's a good idea? Happy ain't gonna like it. Quinn either when he finds out."

"She's either in the club or she's an Old Lady. This is what we do. Prospects gotta watch. The shithead watched last time. It's Bell's turn now." Clay snapped sharply.

Bella frowned as she nibbled at her bottom lip. She didn't quite get all that was going on, but she thought she had a general idea. She was about to watch the club get information from two men. She thought back to her questioning of Darby's dealer before Christmas and her stomach rolled.

Still, she had got through that. She would get through this.

0202020202

Happy, Chibs, Bobby and Juice were standing outside of Unser's place waiting when the rest of the club pulled up. Bella was driving the Club van and the rest were on their bikes. Inside were two of the pieces of shit jacking the trucks, one of which had got Chibs good with a blade. He was gonna pay. The Prospect was watching over them. Considering they were tied to chairs it was a job even he couldn't fuck up.

"They say anything yet?" Clay asked as he massaged his hands.

"Waitin' on you to get started," Happy nodded, his eyes fixed on his Spitfire as she walked over to them. He wondered if she rolled her hips like that on purpose to get a reaction outta him. Maybe he'd ask her when he was balls deep in her later.

"Come on Half-Sac can wait outside and keep look out," Clay said with a nod towards the warehouse.

Happy's heart sank and his blood, so pumped up over the prospect of working with his hands, doing his speciality, froze as he saw his Girly following the rest of the club.

Jax caught his eye and twitched his head towards Clay. Clay had ordered this. His Girly was gonna watch him work.

Happy tried to push the shitty ass feelings away. It wasn't working though. His Girly who had never once looked at him with the fear he saw in everyone else's eyes was going to watch. What if she became scared of him? What if she kicked him out? What if he never got to put his mark on her?

He shook his head. It was no use thinking like that. He had a job to do and whatever the fuck else was going on he had to do this for the club.

He was the last in, his tools held in the wrap bag in his hands.

"You wanna talk before our friend here gets started?" Clay asked the two men as Hal-Sac left.

"Not gonna happen. He doesn't scare us," one of them stupidly said.

"Fair enough. Fucking stupid. But fair. Hap," Clay nodded.

Keeping his eyes away from his Spitfire, Happy laid out his tools and pulled each out one by one, inspecting them. He glanced at the men. There was no sign of them cracking just yet. He grabbed a pair of pliers first.

"Look at that man, they got pussy here. She the carrot to the stick? We don't talk and this psycho carves us up, we do and we get a taste of her cunt?" One of the dead men smirked, no fear in his eyes. Yet.

Bella stepped forward a little with a grin, it didn't touch her eyes. "You know the psycho? The one about to rip any information he can from you? Carving you up so bad your mama's aren't going to recognise you?" She asked nonchalantly, her pace was paler than usual though. "He's my Old Man, well done idiot. You've just pissed him off more."

Girly wasn't wrong. The man who spoke finally had a touch of fear in his eyes.

Happy didn't waste another second. He took the pliers and ripped the ass's fingernail off his thumb. He did it quickly, relishing the flood of blood that came up with the nail. The scream that tore from the man's throat was like the best music, it soothed his black twisted soul. He smiled. A true, happy smile.

With a look he turned to the man's partner. The man tried to look tough, the tremble in his bottom lip belied his real feelings though. Tears streamed down his face as his thumb nail suffered the same fate.

"Wanna say anything yet assholes?" He rasped. Both men shook their heads. "Good, got some shit I've been looking forward to trying out."

With a grin he pulled on some thick rubber gloves his contact had sworn would protect him from the small bottle he looked at. He, very carefully, took the lid off the bottle and slowly stepped toward the men, still smiling.

"What's in that?" The guy who spoke about his Spitfire asked. Happy didn't reply. "Man, what's in that?"

Grabbing the hand of the other man, Happy looked at the prick speaking to him. "Acid," he grunted before the liquid was spilling all along the man's hand.

Howl's echoed around the warehouse dying off only as the guy choked on vomit. The acid had stripped his flesh and was bubbling at the muscle and fat on the hand. It was fascinating. It smelt like the chemicals and a faint tinge of burning fat, flesh dripped from his hand onto the floor with wet smacking thuds.

"Wanna talk now?"

"Man… You don't understand, they'll kill us," the guy who wasn't writhing in agony protested, real fear coming through his pores. Happy fucking loved that stench.

Behind him someone gagged and Happy found himself hoping it wasn't his Girly. He couldn't look, if he did he wouldn't get the information they needed.

Happy had rarely felt fear in his life. But the thought of her reaction to this, to him, left him scared.

"What the fuck d'ya think he's gonna do ta ya? Ya fuckin' stupid bastard!" Chibs growled. Man had a point, plus the Scot deserved to get his own hits in this after taking a knife from one of the bastards.

Happy went to put the acid back. It was gruesome and showed anatomy that Happy hadn't seen like that before. He fucking loved it. But he got another new acquisition instead.

He'd use fire numerous times. This time though he had a fucking blow torch. He was gonna enjoy this. One of the two would talk after the smell of cooking flesh permeated the air. He was also pretty sure that one or two of his brothers or his Old Lady was gonna have to step out after this.

Happy yanked a Boot off the man's foot and then his sock before with a manic look he lit the torch.

The man was squirming and squealing even before Happy had touched the burning blue flame to the guy's skin.

"Shit man! No! No! I'll talk dammit, I'll talk!"

Happy sighed but switched the blow torch off, standing silently with the machine in his hands. He nodded once, he had thirty seconds before he was starting this shit. He needed to hear more screams, he craved them.

"Well?" Clay barked.

"We got orders to move into California and start taking over businesses about a month ago. We started on the jacking trade. The next is going to be the protection racket," the man breathed in between gasps. "They wanna control the criminal element here like they do back home."

"And who is this we?" Jax asked sounding

"It's an Italian organisation. Really scary motherfuckers. Makes your pet psycho look like a cuddly teacup puppy," he went on.

"The name?" Clay asked.

"Man, I can't, you don't understand-"

"Hap," Clay ordered.

The flame touched skin this time as the screams tore the dicks throat rough and raw. Power flowed through him. He had this power. He was protecting his club, protecting what was his and these screams were his song.

Happy stopped before the man could pass out.

The large metal room smelt of overcooked white meat. A thick heady smell that had more than one of his family behind him retching. Footsteps indicated someone was leaving. They were too heavy to be his Girly's though.

He waited for the screams and then whimpers to die down.

"What's their name?"

"P… please… I c… can't."

Happy nodded and went to pick up a hammer. An oldie, but a goodie. It worked more often than not.

"It's the Volturi man! The Volturi!" Acid man shouted in a panic.

"Henry, no! They'll-"

"What? Torture us? Kill us? What's the point man? Just give it up."

Happy nodded as he put the hammer down. His job was done. They were broken and starting to spill their guts.

A sharp gasp echoed from behind him. He'd recognise it anywhere, he usually heard it when he first sank his into her at night or the morning or afternoon. It was undoubtedly Bella's.

He turned around to see her swaying on her feet, her face losing all colour and her lips paling. He darted forward to catch her just as she passed out. He just managed to grab her before she hit the concrete.

"Goddammit. Take her outside!" Clay barked at Happy.

Happy nodded once, lifting her easily into his arms and taking her out into the cold night air where she could wait with Bobby. The older man would let him know when she woke up and she'd be safe with him.

When Happy reentered it was to find Chibs holding his gun. Two pulls of the trigger and the men were out for the count.

"Dispose of them. When Bella wakes up, tell her to put her damn ass in gear and she can help!" Clay told them, his face twisted in anger.

Happy couldn't help but bristle at that. Bobby had to leave the room. There were a couple of piles of vomit. It wasn't like anyone else took his work too well either. His Spitfire at least waited it out before she had a reaction.

His hands balled into fists and a sweat broke out as he realised that when she woke, he might have lost her.